Socrates in the Underworld

by Nalin Ranasinghe, Peter Augustine Lawler (Introduction)

This is the first full-length monograph to address the religious, ethical, and political dimensions of Plato's Gorgias. The third longest and most serious dialogue has long been neglected because of the disconcerting moral and psychic demands it makes on its readers. Yet such a personal appropriation, equivalent to taking the uncanny daimon of Socrates back to one's cave or body, is the key to understanding the philosopher's paradoxical claim that nobody deliberately chooses to do evil. The dramatic action of the Gorgias shows how angry and insecure men can be led by demagogic rhetoric to perform violent and thoughtless deeds. The repeated performance of such actions has the effect of blinding their judgment to the extent that they truly know not what they do. Deliberately using the disastrous demagogue-driven Peloponnesian War as the backdrop for the Gorgias, Plato suggests that only Socrates practiced the true political art. This art seems to consist of undoing the insidious effects

Genres: Philosophy

192 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2008

Reviews

[Mark Gring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ranasinghe's overview and analysis of Plato's Gorgias is transformative for understanding Plato. Ranasinghe hints at a more metaphysical view of Plato but is not as overt about that side of things. The book cover does contend that this is the "first full-length, monograph to address the religious, ethical, and political dimensions of Plato's Gorgias." I would say that Ranasinghe does this quite well. The text is in the philosophical and interpretive line of Josef Pieper, Eva Brann, Etienne Gilson, Lloyd Gerson, and others who see that ancient philosophy IS theology--especially when rhetoric connects its user to divine Logos.
What Ranasinghe does especially well is to give a context for reading Plato's dialogues. In particular, Ranasinghe states that Plato frontloads his dialogues and to miss the front loading, in my opinion, is to miss the significant depth of what takes place in the dialogue. In this case, it is the idea that because Chaerephon could not get Socrates to go with him to the Oracle at Delphi, he gets Socrates to meet with Gorgias as the "pseudo-oracle" (my term). This "flipped a switch" in my way of thinking about Plato's dialogues--especially with Plato's Gorgias and Phaedrus.
The text follows the various dialogues in Plato's Gorgias and gives wonderful insight to the use of language and ideas presented by Plato. It is a delightful read--although at times he takes off on "rabbit trails" that, although interesting, distract from the flow of Plato's text. Overall a very worthwhile book to get and read if you enjoy Plato's dialogues but required reading if you plan to teach this text.