WORKSHOP: Five Propositions from the Gorgias
By Don Finkel
The purpose of this workshop is to investigate five propositions which Socrates advocates in the Gorgias and to examine their interconnectedness and mutual implications. Here are the propositions:
1. No one does wrong willingly.
2. It is preferable to suffer wrong than to do wrong.
3. The good is not equivalent to the pleasant (pleasure).
4. Dialectic (or philosophical dialogue) is superior to rhetoric.
5. The life of philosophy is to be preferred to the life of politics.
Divide up into groups of four. Appoint one person a scribe, to make sure the group's answers to the questions below get written down. Another person should be appointed a "clock--watcher." This person's job is to keep an eye on the time and insure that the group moves along according to the times indicated on the worksheet. In addition, everyone should keep his or her own notes as you work.
1. (20 minutes) Proposition 1: NO ONE DOES WRONG WILLINGLY.
a. Locate in the text the argument that establishes this proposition.
b. How is this proposition established in the argument with Polus? Map out the argument by listing the necessary premises and conclusions. (It should be a short list; this is a short argument.) Write them in your own words and include only those steps that are logically necessary to produce the conclusion.
c. Evaluate the soundness of the argument by assessing the validity of the logic and (separately) the reasonableness and plausibility of the premises.
d. What are the implications of accepting Proposition 1 as true? Discuss these briefly.
2. (30 minutes) Proposition 2: IT IS PREFERABLE TO SUFFER WRONG THAN TO DO WRONG.
a. Locate the argument that establishes this proposition.
b. How is this proposition established in the argument with Polus? Map out the argument by listing the necessary premises and conclusions. (It should be a longer list; this is a longer argument.) Write them in your own words and include only those steps that are logically necessary to produce the conclusion.
c. Evaluate the soundness of the argument by assessing the validity of the logic and (separately) the reasonableness and plausibility of the premises.
d. What are the implications of accepting Proposition 2 as true? Discuss these briefly.
3. (45 minutes) Proposition 3: THE GOOD IS NOT EQUIVALENT TO THE PLEASANT (PLEASURE).
a. There are three arguments Socrates uses to refute Callicles' hedonism (the doctrine that the pleasure defines the good) and to establish this proposition. The first is an argument by counterexample (which does not succeed) that occurs at 494b7-495c2. Read this over and get clear on Socrates' objection to hedonism in this passage.
b. The second argument occurs at 495e-497d. Read it over, map out the argument, and evaluate it. It is a short argument.
c. The third argument is the most substantial. It occurs at 497e-499b. Read it over, map out the argument, and evaluate it.
d. What are the implications of accepting Proposition 3 as true? Discuss these briefly.
4. (45 minutes) Proposition 4: DIALECTIC (OR PHILOSOPHICAL DIALOGUE) IS SUPERIOR TO RHETORIC.
a. Make as complete a list as possible showing how dialectic and rhetoric differ from each other. You will need to comb through the whole Gorgias to accomplish this task, since there are clues and indications in many places that can be used to distinguish the two forms of speech.
b. How do the Propositions 1, 2, and 3 help support Proposition 4? What are the bearings of those three propositions on the truth (or falsity) of proposition 4? Consider each of the three propositions separately and in various combinations. Write a paragraph explaining the connections.
LUNCH BREAK - 1 HOUR: It should now be about 12:30. Return in one hour at 1:30 and continue working through the worksheet in your small group.
5. (40 minutes) Proposition 5: THE LIFE OF PHILOSOPHY IS TO BE PREFERRED TO THE LIFE OF POLITICS.
a. How do Propositions 1, 2, 3, and 4 help support Proposition 5? What are the bearings of those four propositions on the truth (or falsity) of proposition 5? Consider each of the four propositions separately and in various combinations. Write a paragraph or two explaining the connections.
b. But at 521d6 Socrates says, "I think that I am one of very few Athenians, not to say the only one, engaged in the true political art, and that of the men of today I alone practice statesmanship." How can you reconcile this statement with Proposition 5?
c. Despite what Socrates says here, is there or is there not (in your opinion) a contradiction between his quoted claim and Proposition 5?
RETURN TO LIB. 2116 AND DROP OFF YOUR WRITTEN PARAGRAPHS IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS 4b AND 5a. There will be no time today for class discussion of the results, but I hope they will fuel the seminar discussions for the remainder of the week. I will post the written paragraphs on the walls during Tuesday's class.