Gonzalez Lodge, Commentary on Plato: Gorgias

δικαιοσύνη: is used here in the same sense as δικαστική 520 b below; why, it is hard to understand. It may have been chosen in view of the earlier definition of the object of rhetoric in 454 b, 455 a. The ἰατρική is beyond cavil good; on the contrary, δικαστική is susceptible of a bad construction, whereas here there was need of no doubtful word. Though not customary, there is no reason why δικαιοσύνη should not be understood as the practical exercise of that character of the δίκαιος, which for an Athenian was naturally to be found in the δικαστική. The word, then, means here “administration of justice.” That the word is genuine is shown by Quintilian's translation iustitia in ii. 15. 28.

13 f.

αἰσθομένη and

γνοῦσα: are distinguished both as regards the object and the manner of their activity. γνῶσις is directed to the nature, which is only comprehended by thought; αἴσθησις is merely the visual perception of the outward form or effects, the cause of which, lying in the nature of the object, is not comprehended. By ἀλλὰ στοχασαμένη the idea of αἰσθομένη is not merely repeated, but also more exactly defined. Similarly, 452 e, and in a different order 521 d, e. On the heaping up of participles and their subordination, see Kr. 56, 15 with notes.

ὑποδῦσα: as it were under a cloak or mask by which its real nature is concealed. The usage is borrowed from the stage; cf. Luc. Pisc. 33. The simple acc. with this verb is not uncommon.