Reading: Plato, Gorgias (Hackett paperback), pp. 1–26 (Stephanus 447a–466a)

Notes and questions:

1. The word that was translated as "art" in the excerpts from Aristotle that we read, namely the Greek word tekhnê, is translated here as "craft," and sometimes as "expertise." See the translator's note 4 on p. 2.
   
2. Gorgias claims to be an expert in oratory (449a). Socrates asks him what this makes him an expert about (449e). Why is Gorgias' answer not satisfactory to Socrates?
3. How does Gorgias explain the difference between the kind of expertise in speeches that he possesses and the kind that masters of other crafts possess (450b)? Why does this answer not stand up to Socrates' examination?
4. What is Gorgias' second attempt at an explanation of his craft (453a)? What weakness, again, does Socrates find in this answer?
5. Socrates distinguishes between two kinds of persuasion (454c–e): what are they? Which kind does oratory produce?
6. After Gorgias gives his long speech in defnese of oratory (456a–457c), Socrates accuses him of inconsistency (457e). What is the inconsistency? (It becomes clearer at 460d–461b.)
7. In his exchange with Polus (461b–466a), Socrates claims that oratory is not an art at all but merely a "knack." What does he mean by this, and why does he make this claim?