Com 409 exam 1 Flashcards
what is direct democracy?
every citizen must go to assembly
what is the assembly?
thousands of individuals deciding on all issues- lawsuits, civil trials, criminal trials etc.
what is isonomia?
equality under the law
what is isegoria?
every athenian is allowed the right to give speech in assembly but that doesn’t mean it will be taken into consideration
T/F persuasion is required both in assembly deliberations and as part of athenian culture/ education?
true
what is the era following the pelopennesian war?
era of “greek philosophy”
who were the first teachers of rhetoric?
corax and tisias- speeches in defense of legal charges and speeches for assemblies
what is empedocles?
“the self conscious study of the power of languages.”
what does human understanding come through?
perception; not knowledge
why were the sophists accused by plato and isocrates?
sophists taught: an anti-aristocratic “agenda”, focused on doxa, and belief in “unstable truth”
who are important sophists?
gorgias, isocrates, protagoras
who is gorgias?
claimed to be able to speak on both sides of any issue , wrote Encomium of Helen- a “rhetorical exercise”
Who is isocrates?
middle ground betwn sophists and plato. Believes that rhetoric teaches both usefulness for the polis (community) and individual virtue
what is platos critique of gorgias?
political dangers of sophistical rhetoric. Questioning by the political legitimacy of the demos (the people)
what is the purpose of encomium of helen?
a defense of helen, seen as the cause of the trojan war; a theory of power of languages (logos); a rhetorical exercise; deploying a particular rhetorical style
What are the causes of encomium of helen?
the claims of fate and force (fate by the gods?) ; violence (she’s the victim, not the perpetrator) ; speech, logos as agent (works not by reason but by emotion)
doxa creates what in the encomium of helen?
slippery situations
Gorgias uses speech as a form of power by?
Gorgias= constrainor; logos constrains his audience. He believes he is so well at speeches that he can constrain his audience
what does speech do?
speech makes the unclear clear; speech makes the logical seem true to the crowd (persuasion); speech makes beliefs seem subject to question (philosophy)- makes people uncertain of what they believe
what is dissoi logoi?
opposing claims, alternating arguments
key terms in dissoi logoi?
context/timeliness/situation ; judgment is required when good and falsehood are intermingled
Dissoi Logoi on good and bad?
good and bad are different; good and bad are the same; good and bad are good for some, bad for others in time; we can only judge in the moment
Dissoi logi on just and unjust?
just and unjust are the same thing; it is just to tell lies and deceive ; lies can be used. Allows flexible thinking (poets, dramatists)
dissoi logoi on truth and falsehood?
truth and falsehood are the same; a statement is distinct from the truth; a circumstance: whom is speaking, where
T/F language has no absolute representation of truth
true
is wisdom impossible to teach?
there are no recognized teachers of wisdom; sophists aren’t always able to teach wisdom to students; we learn by doing, it is a process (cosmosis)