François-André Vincent, Alcibades Being Taught by Socrates (1776)
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Greg Johnson is teaching a five-week course on Plato’s Gorgias on Counter-Currents Radio, and the last lecture is now available. See below. Topics discussed include:
1. How we can secure ourselves against doing injustice but not really against suffering it?
2. Why the quality of life is more important than the quantity
3. Why the great statesmen of Athens were failures
4. The likely fate of Socrates if judged by the people of Athens
5. Anubis, Hermes, and Socrates as psychopomps
6. The likely fates of Socrates and Callicles if judged in the underworld
The first lecture can be heard here, the second here, the third here, and the fourth here.
The theme of the course is “Might vs. Right.” Dr. Johnson is using Donald J. Zeyl’s translation of the Gorgias published by Hackett as both a separate book and as part of their Plato Complete Works volume. You can use other translations, because all Plato translations have a standard citation format known as Stephanus numbers, which appear in the margins of each translation. There are many free online translations, for instance this one at Archive.org.
Every educated person should be familiar with Plato, but higher education today is usually a barrier to understanding the great thinkers of the past. Hence the need for Counter-Currents, which Jonathan Bowden described as an online university of the Right.
To listen in a player, click here or below. To download, right-click the link and click “save as.”
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