Plato on Rethoric and Virtue

Authors

  • Thomas M. Robinson

Keywords:

Rethorics, art, Atenas

Abstract

Socrates (Plato) had a very dim view of rhetoric as practiced in the Athens of his day, which he was disinclined to dignify even with the name of an art. He had at the same time a strong notion of what a genuine art of rhetoric would consist of. In this paper I plan to give a rapid overview of his opinions in the matter, drawing largely on two major sources, the Gorgias and Phaedrus, followed by what seem to me to be the principal strengths and weaknesses in his argument. I shall then go on to ask about the degree to which what he has to say (or some of it, at any rate) is and should be of continuing interest and concern.

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Issue

No. 8 (2002): Ética Ontem e Hoje

Section

Articles

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