Gorgias’ Rhetorical Thought: Philosophical, Psychological, and Social Dimensions of Persuasion

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Published: Ιουν 7, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/dia.45777
Keywords:
Gorgias Rhetoric Persuastion Speech Sophists Social construction of reality Psychology of persuasion Ethics of rhetoric
Georgios Fountoulakis
Lecturer, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Greece
Christos Simos
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Greece
Abstract

This study examines Gorgias’ rhetorical theory in relation to his ontological and epistemological framework. It argues that Gorgias’ radical critique of being and knowledge—particularly the claim that reality is either nonexistent, unknowable, or incommunicable—undermines the possibility of stable truth and establishes the conditions for rhetoric as a primary mode of human engagement with the world. Focusing on the Encomium of Helen and the Defense of Palamedes, the analysis demonstrates that persuasion operates through the formation and transformation of belief (doxa), rather than through access to objective truth (aletheia). In this context, logos emerges not merely as a stylistic or manipulative tool but as a necessary response to epistemological uncertainty. While modern interpretations highlight the cognitive dimensions of Gorgian persuasion, this study maintains that such approaches must remain secondary to the original philosophical framework, which grounds rhetoric in a broader ontological and epistemological problem.

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