Plato - Gorgias (Agora Publications) - mp3 torrent

Gorgias of Leontini, a famous teacher of rhetoric, has come to Athens to recruit students, promising to teach them how to become leaders in politics and business. A group has gathered at Callicles' house to hear Gorgias demonstrate the power of his art. This dialogue blends comic and serious discussion of the best human life, providing a penetrating examination of ethics. Is it better to suffer evil or to do evil? Is it better to do something wrong and avoid being caught, or to be caught and punished? Is pleasure the same as goodness? As the characters in the dialogue pursue these questions, the foundations of ethics and the nature of the good life are brought to light.


About Agora
The historical Socrates brought philosophy down from the heavens to thrive in the streets of the agora — the marketplace. Agora Publications offers dramatic performances of the dialogues of Plato and David Hume to help recapture this valuable Socratic tradition. We begin by revising the texts to make them more accessible to contemporary readers and listeners while leaving them unabridged and striving to be faithful to their original meaning. In this way we contribute to the marketplace of ideas and continue the rich philosophical tradition in which careful and precise thinking blend with literary and poetic creation.

Our unique contribution lies in enlisting professional actors and directors to perform these works as part of what we call the "Theater of the Mind." Characters such as Socrates, Gorgias, Alcibiades, Diotima, Cleanthes, Demea, and Philo come alive and join in the perennial conversation about the most important questions. What should we teach young people about religion? What is the nature and role of love? How can the best human community be created? What are justice, goodness, truth, and beauty? Is the human soul immortal, or does it die along with the body?