Rhetoric In Socrates The Gorgias

According to Aristotle, certainly the most prominent rhetorical theorist in Ancient Greece and probably the most lasting rhetorical theorist in the Western tradition, an effective speech is made up of three “proofs”—logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is the speech’s logic, pathos is the speaker’s appeal to the audience’s emotions, and ethos, finally, is “the most authoritative form of persuasion”—one that emerges

(167) One who knows knowledge, more so, one who loves wisdom, delivers their wisdom, knowledge and understanding to others. Since wisdom is the understanding of speech, knowing truth and questioning credibility, rhetoric does not produce knowledge. It delivers the knowledge to others. Being wise is being able to recognize and acknowledge the hidden truth of speech and creating a sense of understanding with that knowledge.

Rhetoric was written sometime between 360 and 334 B.C. In this work, he writes about the art of public speaking. It seems that he is writing in direct response to Plato's condemnation of the art. He believes that different rhetoric treats specific cases. These specific cases are topoi, which are different topics that can be

Rhetoric seems like a big word but the meaning is simple- persuasion. In the book Julius Caesar, Antony and Brutus, two major characters, are fantastic at persuading the Roman citizens. When one is reading the story, they might think that both have equal amounts but when you look closer, Antony has the better rhetoric strategies. In just a few short sentences, Antony convinced the people to believe that Caesar needed revenge even though he never came out and told them that. Just a couple of minutes ago, the citizens were on Brutus’s side and thought that Caesar needed to go.

This prevents the misuse of rhetoric to persuade souls to misdeeds. The theme is demonstrated throughout Phaedrus, as noted in the allegory regarding love as well as Socrates’ analyses of the soul and rhetoric. His own use of rhetorical strategies allows Plato to effectively educate his speech while swaying them to support his ideals of universal truth and

Gorgias is a Socratic dialogue that aims to determine what rhetoric truly is. Socrates seeks the true definition of rhetoric, attempting to pinpoint the essence of rhetoric and unveil the flaws of the sophistic oratory popular in Athens at this time. The art of persuasion was widely considered necessary for political and legal advantage in classical Athens, and rhetoricians promoted themselves as teachers of this fundamental skill. Some, like Gorgias, were foreigners attracted to Athens because of its reputation for intellectual and cultural sophistication. In Gorgias, Socrates argues that philosophy is an art, whereas rhetoric is a skill based on mere experience. To Socrates, most rhetoric in practice is merely flattery. In examining the role advertising plays in our

Rhetoric’s are used in every occurence of our lives whether we are aware of them or not. From the way we greet new ideas and thoughts, to the way we function with already existing notions, regardless, rhetorics have incorporated into our daily life from the first few months of our lives. The dictionary recognizes rhetorical to mean ‘the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.’ What’s the main concept to explore of rhetorics, are the main uses and techniques that are commonly used.

According to Socrates, in order for authors to effectively use rhetoric to test a soul on its

In this statement, Socrates defines rhetoric as a mere false impression of the more pure concept of justice. The fallacious routine of cookery is very similar to the true art of medicine: each provides a vague image of something more ethical and

The Gorgias is a dialogue that starts off with a question of what rhetoric is, and from discussing what rhetoric is, develops into a inquiry of what justice and virtue is. While the readers should never leave the theme of rhetoric behind, this paper will focus solely on the topics of virtue and justice. By the second to last section of the Gorgias, we find that Socrates’ interlocutors are worn out by his refutations. Yet, Socrates cannot leave now, for his argument has not been complete. He has already been accused at least once of being womanly by being late to a fight; the philosopher cannot now accused of abandoning the virtue he champions and which we all might metaphorically agree he poses,

3) Plato’s view on the Rhetoric in Gorgias is completely different than Phaedrus view on rhetoric. In Gorgias, Plato emphasis the use of rhetoric as flattery that only lacks merit in scientifically sense. As stated with the readings, Plato warns “when the rhetorician Is more persuasive that the physician, the ignorant is more persuasive with the ignorant that he who has knowledge—is not the inference.” (Plato, 48). This implies that rhetoric creates this distortion that allows others to distort what is fake into something that is real through rhetoric. Plato was very fearful of the use of language in a destructive way because of his overall faulty it may lead and the Sophists discuss how rhetoric can be deceptive in its means. In contrast, Phaedrus approaches rhetoric in an entirely different view focusing on the ways in which rhetoric is a craft and used as a tool of self-expression.

Plato and Aristotle are two rhetoricians than had a great impact on the history of rhetoric. Although they were similar in many ways, their use and definition of rhetoric were different. Plato had the more classical approach where he used rhetoric as a means of education to pass down his beliefs and practice of rhetoric to his students. He believed that it should be used to educate the masses, provoking thought, and thereby preserving that knowledge. Plato thought that rhetoric should be used to convey truth, truths already known to the audience, revealed through that dialectic critical thought. Plato also operated on absolute truths, things that are right or wrong, black or white. Aristotle was more modern in that he used rhetoric as a

Rhetoric is an art form created before the reign of Gorgias, by Aristotle. As time progressed throughout the ages, Aristotle taught the art of rhetoric to his student Socrates, who eventually taught it to Plato. The art gradually adapted into the rhetoric we use today, providing the reason as to why Plato chooses to recreate the account of Socrates and Gorgias’ discussion. Plato shows us how Socrates’ knowledge of proper usage of rhetoric is vaster than that of Gorgias’. He helps us visualize the various ways he uses rhetoric, to provide the reason for his ability to use rhetoric better than the other Orators. This is illuminated by Socrates’ use of pathos, in his argument of pain and pleasure, the use of ethos in speaking about the comparison of medicine and gymnastics, and his use of logos in his debate on the body and soul. Plato places special consideration into choosing the topics he highlights in the story because of Socrates innate ability to refute these topics the way does.

In Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Aristotle argues that rhetoric should be used to portray the truth and to persuade people to follow the truth, not to manipulate the audience. According to Aristotle, rhetoric is both a natural method of persuasion and something that can be learned. Aristotle says, “ordinary people do this either at random or through practice and from acquired habit” (Rhetoric). There are three modes of persuasion, logos, ethos, and pathos, each used in a unique way. “The modes of persuasion are the only true constituents of the art: everything else is merely accessory,” according to Aristotle (Ibid). For rhetoric to be effective each mode of persuasion must be used correctly - ethos to exhibit ethics, logos

to the unjust rule of Athenian culture, first defining rhetoric in negative terms as a dangerous