Plato's Gorgias, What Does Gorgias Teach? 

Currently doing a book report on Gorgias for an introduction to rhetorical theory class and this video broke down Gorgias in so much more detail and capable understanding than anything in academia ever has for me. Top notch.

Great at unpacking in brief

expanding a deeper meaning from the text. I like the connection, and it relates to my life.

Intriguing for sure! Can't wait to read my copy. It reminds me of the work of Paulo Friere.

Thank you for this piece sir. Do you perhaps make a video on the connection of Gorgias to the death penalty law? If ever you find relevance to delve in this topic. 😊

Fantastic! very helpful.

Interesting. May I suggest those who are interested to listen to a recent BBC programme called "In Our Time: Plato's Gorgias" which is an informative discussion of this Socratic dialogue.

High quality, thoughtful, content. 😊

Real teacher.

Thank you so much Sir.

I like to teach this dialogue in a sequence and context with Gorgias's own "Encomium of Helen", Plato's Gorgias, then Plato's Phaedrus. It helps to add a nice layer of complexity to the discussion--that perhaps Gorgias wasn't just this empty Sophist. Gorgias seems quite aware of the dangers and powers of persuasion in the "Encomium of Helen." This adds some nice complexity to the Phaedrus as well. Many students over the years have brought up critiques of Plato's Phaedrus that I never came to myself--that we generally agree with the conclusion that speech should be as true as possible (look what happens if it isn't, we have horrible examples like Hitler's Germany), but Plato's reasoning and his arrival at this conclusion seems flawed - more like a technique to promote his own theories or particular brand of truth. Williams even calls Plato more a rhetorician than a philosopher, which I find still interesting.

thought provoking analysis!

Thank you for this, it helped me a lot!

Some have accused Socrates' own rhetoric as failing with Callicles but after I read it for myself I see Callicles being rather difficult himself at the outset of his part of the dialogue. He doesn't seem to welcome his assumptions to be poked at.

Liberal education, as we understand it, was more influenced by Cicero, who's conception of philosophy is closer to Gorgias, than by Plato.

As you say, the moral content of the discussion is far more important than the other details. So you should focus on Socrates questions, "Is it better to correct someone or to be corrected by someone?", and further, "Is it better to cause injustice to someone else, or to be a victim of injustice yourself?" These are the important questions of this dialogue, and really, of all living.

Do you talk about Gorgias' "nothing exists" concept?

Is there an opinion about Gorgias that is not prejudiced by Plato?

@5:58 or so. why is there no definition of the word 'critical'? Here is a non-critical analysis of the word... critical (adj.) 1580s, "censorious, inclined to find fault," from critic + -al (1). Sense of "important or essential for determining" is from c. 1600, originally in medicine. Meaning "of the nature of a crisis, in a condition of extreme doubt or danger" is from 1660s; that of "involving judgment as to the truth or merit of something" is from 1640s; that of "having the knowledge, ability, or discernment to pass judgment" is from 1640s. Meaning "pertaining to criticism" is from 1741. critic (n.) formerly critick, 1580s, "one who passes judgment, person skilled in judging merit in some particular class of things," from French critique (14c.), from Latin criticus "a judge, a censor, an estimator," also "grammarian who detects spurious passages in literary work," from Greek kritikos "able to make judgments," from krinein "to separate, decide" (from PIE root *krei- "to sieve," thus "discriminate, distinguish"). The meaning "one who judges merits of books, plays, etc." is from c. 1600. The English word always has had overtones of "censurer, faultfinder, one who judges severely."