Plato's Gorgias and the Power of 'Greek passage'

Abstract: Recent interpretations of the opening exchange between Socrates and
Gorgias in Plato’s Gorgias have tended to focus on the question of whether the
rhetorician believes that justice and injustice are the subject matter of rhetoric.
This paper argues that Gorgias is interested in the just and the unjust only insofar
as being a persuasive speaker on these topics is a prerequisite for the successful
exercise of power in the political domain. Although Gorgias’ orientation by power
and overestimation of the power of speech have been noted by many interpreters,
my intention is to clarify Gorgias’ claims for the power of rhetoric and explain the
significance of these claims for one important aspect of Plato’s broader condemnation
of sophistry.