Gorgias

A detailed Summary of Gorgias


Gorgias, by Plato, can be used as somewhat of a guide for media practitioners. The major themes in this book are drawn from Socrates' conversations with some of the greatest thinkers of his time and consist of debates concerning telling the truth , whether it is better to do wrong than to suffer wrong and if the strongest of society should be its rulers. These three underlying themes can easily be applied to the practice and ethical situations of the media today and if applied in a proper way will yield results that will surely do no harm to society and ultimately improve it.

Socrates' first encounter is with Gorgias. Gorgias professes to be a teacher in the art of oratory. Socrates holds that oratory as an art is a sham and filled with puffery, filling ignorant people with false knowledge. While arguing with Polus on the matter, Socrates compares oratory to cookery, claiming it to be merely a knack gained by experience or routine. Just as cookery produces food that tastes good without the knowledge of whether that food will prove to be harmful or not, oratory produces conviction that may or may not be good. In today's media environment one could use this knowledge in deciding whether or not to run a story in a newspaper


Polus brings about the second major theme in the work, which is the question of whether it is better to suffer evil or to do evil. Polus argues that an unpunished wrong-doer is happier than one who is punished. In rebuttal, Socrates states his belief that doing wrong is the greatest of all misfortunes. Ultimately, Socrates and Polus agree that it is, in fact, a baser thing to do evil and that the unpunished soul is an unhealthy soul because it is like an diseased body that has received no medicine. It is in this meeting that Socrates refers to oratory as pandering. In the media, pandering would be disseminating a story, no matter how socially relevant, without regard for the welfare of the public or consideration of whether it is good or bad. This would usually involve playing on the entertainment value of the piece. Here, the knowledge of Socrates' conclusion that pleasure is, in fact, not the same as good is an excellent base.

Callicles' argument that might makes right is the basis of the third argument. In a relativist society with no absolute right or wrong, this would prove to be true and the stronger or louder would be the most right. In arguing his point, Callicles says that it is not pleasur

Some common words found in the essay are:
Socrates Polus, Gorgias Gorgias, Gorgias Plato, Golden Rule, people serves, influence people serves, influence people, media practitioners,

Approximate Word count = 821
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science

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