On the Platonic Refutation of Gorgias

The Greek Philosopher Gorgias who together with Protagoras is recognized as one of the first generation Sophists سوفسطائیان, is said to have famously remarked that nothing exists, and even if anything were to exist, it could never be known; and even if it were possible for someone to know it, he could never communicate what he knows to others. This assertion constitutes firstly a denial of existence وجود and consequently a denial of knowledge علم; because a thing can only be known if it exists, and therefore that which is non-existent معدوم in every way, cannot be known in any manner; the assertion is not only a denial of existence and the possibility of knowledge امکان علم but is also a denial of the possibility of certainty امکان یقین in knowledge; because certainty in knowledge can only be possible through the possibility of knowledge itself; but the absence and impossibility of knowledge and certainty implies the absence or non-existence of truth حق.

 Plato opposed the above notion regarding the absence of truth, by stating that if true, then the above idea, namely the claim of the Sophists, would itself constitute a truth, in which case the sophistical assertion would be self-defeating; alternatively, if the assertion is invalid or false, then its opposite, namely that truth exists, must necessarily be true; therefore either way, the existence of truth is an indubitable fact; its non-existence being impossible.

 However, it might still be possible to frame a justifiable interpretation of the second half of Gorgias's statement, namely that even if something exists, it cannot be known; this may be done through the concept of knowledge by acquisition علم حصولی as discussed in Islamic Philosophy, particularly in Sadrian thought; according to the notion of knowledge by acquisition the knowing soul عالم does not apprehend the entified reality حقیقت عینیه in a direct or immediate manner; the entified reality is disclosed to the knower in a mediatory way by means of sensible, imaginal and intelligible forms صور; these forms act as mirrors reflecting the objective world, and thereby providing the Knower with an indirect and mediate perception ادراک of reality; but the reality itself remains unknown in an immediate and direct manner.

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