Socrates & the True Political Craft in the 'Gorgias'

In the Apology, Socrates claims he is better off than others because he knows he does not know. This is commonly called "Socratic ignorance." To many, Socratic ignorance is incompatible with the possession of moral knowledge. Indeed, Socrates' behavior in the Socratic dialogues appears to support this view: he affirms his ignorance, cross-examines those who wrongly think themselves to be wise, and refutes them. It looks as if he exposes others' ignorance because he lacks knowledge and cannot teach. In the Gorgias, however, Socrates is much different. At a vital moment in the dialogue, he declares that he is the only one of his contemporaries to take up what he calls the "true political craft." But how is Socratic ignorance consistent with the practice of the political craft?;Unfortunately, scholars have failed to fully appreciate the importance of Socrates' claim in the Gorgias. In this thesis, I argue that Socrates' claim to practice the true political craft is a central claim in the work, since he believes that his style of dialectic is the craft of justice, which is one of the branches of the true political craft.;My stance, however, appears to conflict with Socrates' theory of punishment in the Gorgias. In many passages, Socrates identifies justice with the expertise of the judge, not the expertise of the dialectician. I argue that Socrates maintains that dialectic and judicial punishment are sub-crafts of justice: each sub-craft improves the condition of another person's soul without having to teach him or her the craft of justice.;Although I argue that Socratic ignorance is consistent with Socrates' practice of the political craft, I do not intend to claim that the Gorgias is a Socratic dialogue. In my discussion of judicial punishment, I argue that Socrates commits himself to a conception of the soul that is incompatible with the "intellectualist" psychology he assumes in other Socratic dialogues. Since many believe that the Gorgias is a key text for central Socratic doctrines, my account should prompt us to reevaluate several prominent interpretations of Socratic philosophy.