Reading: Plato, Gorgias, 466a–481a (pp. 27–50)

Notes and questions:

1. Socrates accuses Polus of asking him two questions at once (466c): what are the two questions? What distinction is Socrates making that Polus has not made?
   
2. On what grounds does Socrates claim that the tyrant or the orator who does as he sees fit does not do what he wants and does not have great power (467a and following)? (Polus finally grants Socrates' claim at 468e.)
   
3. On what grounds does Socrates claim that doing what is unjust is a greater evil than suffering what is unjust, and that those who act unjustly are miserable (469b)? (Note that the argument continues long after the claim is first made, and is only concluded at 476a.)
   
4. On what grounds does Socrates claim that one who acts unjustly is better off receiving his due punishment than escaping it (472e)? (This argument, too, continues long after the claim is first made; in fact, to the end of the reading.)