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Gorgias (c.483–375 bc)


Subject Philosophy

DOI: 10.1111/b.9781405106795.2004.x


Extract

Greek sophist and rhetorician, born in Leontini, Sicily, and settled in Athens in 427 as a teacher of rhetoric. His book On Not-Being was an attempt to discredit Eleatic philosophy. Gorgias used Eleatic dialectical reasoning to establish three propositions that contradicted Eleatic views: (1) nothing is;(2) even if anything is, it is unknowable to man; (3) even if anything is knowable, it is inexpressible and incommunicable to others. Gorgias's main concern was rhetoric, which he defined as the art of persuasion. He developed a new style of prose writing that gained immense popularity in the early fourth century bc . He was portrayed in Plato's important dialogue Gorgias . ... log in or subscribe to read full text

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The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy



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