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Γοργίας

Γοργίας

by Plato

First published 1827 · 201 pages · about 3 hours to read

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About this book

There is a well-known saying that the whole of Western Philosophy is footnotes of Plato. This is because his writings have set the schema that philosophy can be said to have followed ever since. Following under the teachings of Socrates, Plato's works are among the world's greatest literature. In the Gorgias, as in nearly all the other dialogues of Plato, we are made aware that formal logic has as yet no existence. The dialogue naturally falls into three divisions, to which the three characters of Gorgias, Polus, and Callicles respectively correspond; and the form and manner change with the stages of the argument.Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year.

Quotes

  • “Yet in the most irregular of the dialogues there is also a certain natural growth or unity; the beginning is not forgotten at the end, and numerous allusions and references are interspersed, which form the loose connecting links of the whole.”
  • “It is useless to criticise the broken metaphors of Plato, if the effect of the whole is to create a picture not such as can be painted on canvas, but which is full of life and meaning to the reader.”
  • “As the fishes live in the ocean, mankind are living in a lower sphere, out of which they put their heads for a moment or two and behold a world beyond.”
  • “There might have been a condition of human life in which the penalty followed at once, and was proportioned to the offence. Moral evil would then be scarcely distinguishable from physical; mankind would avoid vice as they avoid pain or death.”
  • “I myself know not the true nature of these things, but I know that no one can deny my words and not be ridiculous. To do wrong is the greatest of evils, and to suffer wrong is the next greatest evil.”

Passages chosen with AI from the book's public-domain text on Project Gutenberg. Translated by Benjamin Jowett.

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