Unit 1 Flashcards
Changes over time Accrues layers of meaning Functions as a “repertoire” Enables and constrains Adoptable and adaptable Tensions between center and margin Involves ritual and reflection
Tradition
Changes over time
Accrues layers of meaning
Functions as a “repertoire”
Tradition
Enables and constrains
Adoptable and adaptable
Tensions between center and margin
Involves ritual and reflection
Tradition
Tied to historical context No substance? The Supplement Promiscuous Promising and problematic What counts?
Rhetorical
Tied to historical context
No substance?
The Supplement
Rhetorical
Promiscuous
Promising and problematic
What counts?
Rhetorical
Origins of Rhetoric
Ancient Greece
Practiced Rhetoric in 5th Cent. BCE
The Sophists
The Sophists: RHETORIC
a morally neutral, powerful art
LANGUAGE: used to induce belief
The Sophists
The Sophists: TRUTH
created by humans; knowledge limited because it’s only accessible through sense perception
METHOD: explore and present opposing arguments
The Sophists
The Sophists: EDUCATION
all can be taught. . . for a price
ETHICS: because what is true is situational, so is what is good and right
The Sophists
Gorgias, “The Encomium of Helen”
414 BCE
“Speech is a powerful lord, which by means of the finest and most invisible body effects the divinest works”
Gorgias, “The Encomium of Helen”
Rhetoric is powerful; knowledge is incomplete
Gorgias
Gorgias: Purpose
To free Helen from blame.
Gorgias :Four explanations of rhetorical power**
fate, force, speech, love
ca. 403-395 BCE
Dissoi Logoi
You have to explore different perspectives to gain knowledge.
Dissoi Logoi
Purpose: to show that issues can an should be
argued from both sides; perspective and situation can greatly alter your argument.
Dissoi Logoi
Works against absolute Truth.
Dissoi Logoi
Offers kairos as an alternative.
Dissoi Logoi
First to respond to the Sophists
Isocrates and Plato
Isocrates, “Against the Summary Sophists”
ca. 390 BCE
RHETORIC is an art, not a science or set of formulas.
Isocrates, “Against the Summary Sophists”
Isocrates, “Against the Summary Sophists” TRUTH
is less important than kairos.
METHOD for learning rhetoric required natural talent, practice in different situations, and instruction in general principles.
Isocrates, “Against the Summary Sophists”
Isocrates, “Against the Summary Sophists” EDUCA TION
All can be educated, and those who are should be equipped to contribute to the state.
ETHICS: Blame the rhetor, not rhetoric itself, for moral failure.
Isocrates, “Against the Summary Sophists”
Rhetorical tradition
an evolving, adaptable blueprint.
An evolving, adaptable blueprint.
Rhetorical tradition
Speech has the power to create knowledge; it is the only, albeit flawed, way to know.
Gorgias
We must explore different perspectives in order to gain knowledge.
Dissoi Logoi
With natural talent and practice, people can use rhetorical education to serve the common good.
Isocrates
Dialogues respond to Sophists in a way that dramatically shaped the Western rhetorical tradition
Plato
Student of Socrates and was a teacher of many subjects
Plato
Truth is absolute, true knowledge transcends particulars of the sensible world, and human beings can seek and find such knowledge.
Plato
Theory of the Forms
Plato on truth
Allegory of the Cave
Plato on truth
doxa vs. episteme
Plato on truth
Believed true knowledge only accessible through diligent, careful study.
Plato
For dialogue he used the “Socratic Method”
Plato
Dialogue exemplifies the practice of “dialectic”
Plato
Dialogue exhibits dramatic features
Plato
Dialogue should be read like a play
Plato
The dialogue of Plato ≠
Socrates
Critiques the shortcomings of the Sophistic vision of rhetoric
Gorgias
Sets the stage for Socrates’ “true” rhetoric
Gorgias
Elaborates Socrates’ understanding of “true” rhetoric by comparing it to “true” forms of love
Phaedrus
Been said to be two volumes of the same story
Phaedrus and Gorgias
Phaedrus and Gorgias written by
Plato
Setting the stage with Chaerephon
Gorgias: structure and characters
Questioning Gorgias, the Old Sophist
Gorgias: structure and characters
Engaging Polus, the Young Stallion
Gorgias: structure and characters
Battling Callicles, the Pompous Statesman
Gorgias: structure and characters
analogy definition irony parables the political classic: evasion
Rhetorical Strategies used in the Gorgias
Rhetorical Strategies used in the Gorgias
analogy definition irony parables the political classic: evasion
RHETORIC: compared to cookery; can only produce opinion, not knowledge; leaves space for a “genuine art of rhetoric” (132).
Plato
Plato: TRUTH
it exists, but we can only know it through philosophical questioning
EDUCATION: Virtue can be taught only through philosophical exchange between teacher and student; sophists cannot teach virtue (133).
Plato
Plato: METHOD
Dialectic is the means of accessing truth.
ETHICS: Emphasizes the “good,” and implies that philosophy and “good” pursuits are oriented toward the end of justice.
Plato
Written toward the end of Plato’s life (ca. 370 BCE)
Limited interlocutors
Unique setting
the Phaedrus
Written toward the end of Plato’s life (ca. 370 BCE)
Phaedrus
Rhetorical strategies used in the Phaedrus
Humor Contrast Sarcasm Develops a modest ethos Employs rhetorical figures (e.g., metaphor, analogy, allegory)
Rhetorical strategies such as Humor, Contrast, Sarcasm are seen in which of Plato’s work?
the Phaedrus
“In both cases you must analyze a nature, in one that of the body and in the other that of the soul, if you are to proceed in a scientific manner, not merely by practice and routine, to impart health and strength to the body by prescribing medicine and diet, or by proper discourses and training to give to the soul the desired belief and virtue.”
the Phaedrus
Rhetoric and Medicine: Analogy
162-163
Said to have a Show and Tell structure
the Phaedrus
What is the four part structure of the Phaedrus?
- Phaedrus reports
- Socrates responds
- Socrates recants
- Phaedrus and Socrates engage in dialectical exchange
Lysias’s argument
young men should seek out the company of nonlovers over lovers, because the latter are selfish and harmful.
A teachable moment: “What do you think of the discourse, Socrates? Is it not wonderful, especially in diction?”
Phaedrus reads Lysias
Socrates Crafts a Grand Analogy
the Phaedrus
Argues for nonlover over the lover in the Phaedrus
Socrates
Begins by posing as a “mere amateur” in the Phaedrus
Socrates
___________ argues the same point as Lysias, but with completely different reasoning.
Socrates
___________ concludes: “These things, dear boy, you must bear in mind, and you must know that the fondness of the lover is not a matter of goodwill, but of appetite which he wishes to satisfy” (146)
Socrates
When Socrates recants he repents for his sins against
love
“For if any man of noble and gentle nature, one who was himself in love with another of the same sort, or who had ever been loved by such a one, had happened to hear us saying that lovers take up violent enmity because of small matters and are jealously disposed and harmful to the beloved, don’t you think he would imagine he was listening to people brought up among sailors, who had never seen a generous love?”
the Phaedrus
Socrates recant
147
When Socrates recants he
- Repents for his sins “against Love” (147)
- Promises to give a speech on why the lover should be favored over the nonlover.
- Classifies and defines
- The Charioteer (2 horses)
- Reveals other motives in conclusion
- Repents for his sins “against Love” (147)
- Promises to give a speech on why the lover should be favored over the nonlover.
- Classifies and defines
- The Charioteer (2 horses)
- Reveals other motives in conclusion
Socrates recant in the Phaedrus
“And if in our former discourse Phaedrus and I said anything harsh against thee, blame Lysias, the father of that discourse, make him to cease from such speeches, and turn him, as his brother Polemarchus is turned, toward philosophy, that his lover Phaedrus may no longer hesitate, as he does now, between two ways, but may direct his life with all singleness of purpose toward love and philosophical discourses.”
the Phaedrus
Socrates conclusion
155
Conclusion 1: A true art of speech must pursue truth (episteme) rather than opinions (doxa).
Socrates and Phaedrus discussion
Episteme
Truth
Doxa
Opinions
Conclusion 2: Dialecticians have mastered this art by dividing and combining.
Socrates and Phaedrus discussion
Conclusion 3: The art of rhetoric is more than basics.
Socrates and Phaedrus discussion
Conclusion 4: A true practitioner of rhetoric analyzes the soul
Socrates and Phaedrus discussion
Conclusions that came from Socrates and Phaedrus discussion in the Phaedrus
- A true art of speech must pursue truth (episteme) rather than opinions (doxa).
- Dialecticians have mastered this art by dividing and combining.
- The art of rhetoric is more than basics.
- A true practitioner of rhetoric analyzes the soul
- A true art of speech must pursue truth (episteme) rather than opinions (doxa).
- Dialecticians have mastered this art by dividing and combining.
- The art of rhetoric is more than basics.
- A true practitioner of rhetoric analyzes the soul
Conclusions that came from Socrates and Phaedrus discussion in the Phaedrus
Additional themes seen in the Phaedrus
- Words and reality
- Craft vs. art
- Rhetoric as situational art
RHETORIC: Gorgias vs. Phaedrus
Plato’s the Phaedrus
Phaedrus: METHOD
dialectic only means of accessing truth
TRUTH: absolute truth exists; we can only know it through careful inquiry
Plato’s the Phaedrus
Phaedrus: ETHICS
“good” pursuits must be oriented toward justice
EDUCATION: virtue can only be taught through philosophical exchange
Plato’s the Phaedrus
