(Originally written January 7, 2007 in Book 12)
Readings from Classical Rhetoric
Plato (429 - 347 BC)
- Founded the Academy in Athens (387 BC)
- Plato disagreed with his educator and rival, Isocrates, about the nature and place of rhetoric in education for men in life.
- Gorgias opens with Socrates asking Gorgias, "About which of the things exist is it a science?"
- Socrates divides the arts (technai) into 8 parts, showing that both sophistical rhetoric are sham arts, "Flatteries"
- Sophistic and rhetoric aim at pleasure rather than what is good for the soul
- Phaedrus has Phaedrus and Socrates discussing a speech written by Lysias
- Phaedrus reads the speech to Socrates. Socrates criticizes the speech for being repetitive and for using the inventions of others.
-Socrates praises love as divine madness and divine blessing.
-Socrates presents rhetoric based on dialectic instead of basing it on probability.
Gorgias
Socrates aims to ask Gorgias "who he is".
Plus answers the question that there are many arts among mankind. Experience guides life along the path of art, but inexperience guides life along the path of chance. Plus states that Gorgias follows the best art because he is of the best man.
Socrates is unsatisfied with this and claims Polus is better in rhetoric than dialogue. He points out that Polus only praises the art that Gorgias practices, but does not define it.
Gorges finally states that he practices the art of rhetoric. He claims to be a good rhetorician.
Socrates asks for Gorgias to display his famed brevity in answering his question.
Socrates asks what is the scope of rhetoric. What is the field or the science of rhetoric? Gorgias answers, "words".
Socrates points out that rhetoric is not concerned with every kind of words. He also points out that all disciplines need words. He asks why all other disciplines are not called rhetoric.
Gorgias replies that rhetoric deals with no manual products, but all its activity is accompanied through the medium of words.
Socrates pints out that there are sciences (arts) that accomplish their end through words, but have subject matter for their discourse.
Gorges states the subject matter of rhetoric is "the greatest and noblest of human affairs" (63).
Socrates points out that to claim that rhetoric's subject matter is "the greatest and noblest of human affairs" is an unsubstantial value judgment.
Gorgias claims that the blessing rhetoric bestows on man is the freedom it brings. It gives men power over others (power of persuasion).
Gorgias - The sum and substance of rhetoric is that it is a creator of persuasion.
Socrates shows that all arts, when they are taught, are creators of persuasion, "Then rhetoric is not the only creator of persuasion" (65).
Gorges claims that the creator of persuasion in rhetoric deals with persuasion concerning what is right and wrong.
Socrates points out that knowledge and belief aren't the same, but both those who have learned and those who believed have been persuaded.
There are two forms of persuasion:
1) Producing belief without knowledge
2) Producing knowledge
Socrates shows that rhetoric is the first type of persuasion: "rhetoric apparently is a creator of conviction that is persuasive but not in structure about right and wrong" (66).
Gorges claims that rhetoric controls all other faculties. The rhetorician would be chosen over any professional because of his ability to speak.
Rhetoric is a competitive art according to Gorgias. "The rhetorician is competent to speak against anybody on any subject, and to prove himself more convincing before a crowd on practically every topic he wishes" (67).
Gorges claims that while the rhetorician can sway any crowd, he should not use it to rob the power of any craftsmen.
Gorges claims he can teach any man to be a rhetorician.
A rhetorician has his power in a crowd over a professional because the crowd is ignorant.
The rhetorician is ignorant, can persuade the ignorant.
A rhetorician must have knowledge of what is good and what is evil.
A rhetorician must be just and never want to do unjust acts.
(Socrates says to know justice is to be just).
Socrates claims rhetoric is no art at all. He claims it is a kind of routine. A routine that produces gratification and pleasure. He compares rhetoric to cookery.
Rhetoric is not an art. It is a profession of "shrewd and enterprising spirit" (72).
Rhetoric is the semblance of a part of politics.
There are four arts, 2 for the body, two for the soul.
Body:
1) Gymnastics
2) Medicine
Soul:
1) Legislation
2) Justice
(The political arts)
Flattery impersonates the four arts:
Body:
1) Beautification impersonates gymnastics
2) Cookery impersonates medicine
Soul:
1) Sophistry impersonates legislation
2) Rhetoric impersonates justice
Flattery is irrational. It is concerned only with pleasure, not with the Good.
Phaedrus
Plato
There is nothing shameful in writing speeches. Only shameful and bad speeches brings shame to the speaker.
Cicadas genealogy [an interesting myth]
Socrates asks: what is the nature of good and bad writing?
Good and successful discourse presupposes knowledge.
Socrates argues that orators can make evil appear good and the unjust appear just.
Rhetoric is most effective when the subject of the words used are understood subjectively.
Love is a sort of madness.
There are two types of madness:
1) One resulting from human ailments
2) One resulting from divine disturbance
There are four types of divine disturbance:
1) The inspiration of the prophet to Apollo
2) The mysticism of Dionysus
3) The Poetry of the Muses
4) The madness of the lover (Aphrodite & Eros)
The madness of the lover is the highest type of divine disturbance./
Speeches rest on two procedures:
1) Bringing definitions (regardless of their truth or falsehood) into lucidity and consistency
2) Bringing clear definitions into inconsistencies and shrouding the understandable with confusion
A speech must begin with a preamble. Next comes an exposition, accompanied by direct evidence, then indirect evidence, next probabilities. There are also proof and supplementary proof.
Tisias and Gorgias made probability better than truth with he power of their words.
To end a speech one uses a recapitulation (a reminding of the speech's main points to the audience).
Phaedrus contends that speeches posses "a very substantial power.. at all events in large assemblies" (85).
Socrates maintains that great rhetoricians are born with an innate gift and must practice their trade.
The speaker's effort is entirely focused on the hearer's soul.
A scientific rhetorician must:
1) Examine the nature of the soul
2) Examine what natural capacity the soul has to act upon what, through what means, or by what it can be acted upon
3) Classify the types of discourse and types of soul
Socrates maintains that all rhetoricians of his time know the nature of the soul, but hide they knowledge from the audience. They do not instruct their pupils in a scientific rhetoric.
The function of oratory is to influence man's soul.
The number of discourses corresponds to the number of souls (types of souls).
In rhetoric, pupils are taught to replace truth with probability because probability is more persuasive.
Probability is good as a likeness of truth.
Socrates maintains that the written word can do nothing more than remind one who knows that which the writing is concerned with.
Conditions for speech writing:
1) Know the truth about the subject you speak or write about
2) Have a corresponding discernment of the nature of the soul.
Those who use knowledge in discourse are lovers of wisdom. Those who use eloquence in discourse are poets or speech-writing or law-writers.
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