The Skeptic Sophist: Gorgias of Leontini

Coming from a small colony in Syracuse, Gorgias of Leontini, a Greek Sophist philosopher, lived from approximately 485 to 375 B.C.E. Contrary to common belief, scholars assert that he lived to be over 100 years old. Many even designate Gorgias as the “Father of Sophistry.”

Gorgias arrived in Athens during the last quarter of the fifth century B.C.E. as a political envoy from Syracuse. Similar to Protagoras, he also took on students to instruct them in the art of rhetoric for political and legal purposes. Protagoras and Gorgias are often regarded as the first Sophist philosophers.

According to historical sources, Gorgias studied under Empedocles. He authored four works: “On Non-Existence,” “The Defense of Palamedes,” “The Encomium on Helen,” and “The Epitaphios.” However, only two works, “Encomium on Helen” and “Defense of Palamedes,” have survived in their entirety, while “On Non-Existence” exists only in fragments or summaries.

Gorgias stood out significantly in his renowned milieu due to his advocacy of a metaphysical and epistemological system of radical skepticism. In fact, many contemporary scholars classify his philosophy as nihilistic.

Through his Sophistic rhetoric, Gorgias argued that nothing truly exists. I will summarize his argument, as presented in his work “On Non-Existence,” in the following paragraphs.

Let us initially assume that it is impossible for nothingness to exist. Merely for the sake of absurdity, one can rephrase the statement as “non-existence exists.” This proposition entails an apparent contradiction.

Therefore, if something exists, we must acknowledge that either existence is eternal or something brings about existence. Firstly, existence cannot be eternal.

Since existence cannot be eternal, something else must either cause or be the source of existence. However, if existence originates from something, we are faced with either a circular argument (existence causes existence), a contradiction (as some form of “non”-existence causes existence), or an infinite regress (existence comes from existence, which comes from existence, ad infinitum).

In its current state, existence fails to justify itself, and non-existence cannot do so either. Hence, we conclude that something cannot exist, and by the process of elimination, we must accept that nothingness exists.

Gorgias goes on to argue that even if something were to exist, we would be unable to gain any knowledge about it, as our faculties of perception and thought lack the capacity to grasp “existing” entities.

He presents the following example: “How can anyone convey the idea of color through words when the ear can only perceive sounds and not hues?”

Gorgias takes his argument to extremes in order to “prove” that nothing truly exists. He consistently adopts an absurd stance by refuting or discrediting commonly held beliefs, as challenging conventional wisdom was a prevalent approach among the Sophists.

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