COMM 301-Crick- Exam 1
Gorgias and Sophists
"Greece in the Golden Age" 490-430 BCE 5th Century BCE
Gorgias
"If you don't like whats happening, then you better come up with something more desireable. *Use logos to turn a weaker argument into something stronger/ something that prevails *NOT better or worse but WEAKER or STRONGER *Force against opposition Tragedy= THE ART OF TRAGEDY (movie, production) deceives (puts on a beautiful show) and knows how to control the audience
Aristotle in the classical period:
"Rhetoric is useful because we must be able to employ persuasion, just as strict reasoning can be employed, on opposite sides of a question, not in order that we may in practice employ it in both ways, but in order that we may see clearly what the facts are, and that, if another man argues unfairly, we on our part may be able to confute him." • the idea that the best way to come to a decision is to have someone argue opposition • Truth will always win overtime "winner is the truth" • its not just one voice that matters, it is two that correct each other
What is Dialectical Inquiry?
(what plato believed philosophers could see the truth through) -Gives equal importance to positives and negatives of an alternative -Aims to discover truth through examining and interrogating competitive ideas, perspectives or arguments
The Power of Enthymeme
- cultural, understanding the joke is the biggest part of it, understanding it allows you to fill in the 2nd part that's missing. o The more persuasive- (better at rhetoric)= the more you can leave out. Relying on audience -Focusing on & familiarizing with your audience
What did Gorgias write?
-"Encomium of Helen"--"Helen of Troy"
"For if you make this distinction, you will see the other law that holds for mortal men: there is nothing that is in every respect seemly or shameful, but the right moment takes the same things and makes them shameful then changes them around and makes them seemly."
-*Idea of Kairos-The Sophists- The "moment"
"The idea that the elements of a situation, its cultural and political contexts, rather than the transcendent unchanging laws, will produce both the best solutions to problems and the best verbal means of presenting them persuasively"
-*Kairos (sophists teaching)
-"Rhetoric may be defined as the faculty (dynamis/ power) of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion...on almost any subject presents to us. "
--Aristotle • This faculty allows us to SEE something. The available means to do. • This definition is caught up in his identification/ occupation. It depends on situation of where you're at.
Dissoi Logoi(sophist): Good and Bad
-Circumstantial virtue -NOT universal (ex: cancer creates useful meds)
Dissoi Logoi: Seemly and Shameful
-Cultural relativism -No universal just, honorable, shameful, etc. -Depends on value system(morals) • To put the matter generally, all things are seemly when done at the right moment, but shameful when done at the wrong moment.
Power of Rome during "The Golden Age"/ "The sophists movement"
-Democracy -Defeat of Persians -Athenian Power
Dissoi Logoi (sophist): True and False
-Depends on what happened -Truth is embodied in what the statement REFERS to -Empirical nature-> evidence-proof-legalistic -"God is love"=true/always exists -"Greece will always endure"=false/could change
"If love is a god, with divine power of the gods, how could a weaker person refuse and reject him? But if love is a human sickness and a mental weakness, it must not be blamed as a mistake, but claimed as a misfortune"
-Gorgias -In defense/ 1 of 4 possible reasons for Helen to have been persuaded to depart for Troy -Eros, Love, erotic desire -Eros has a power over us-makes us do it
"Speech is a powerful master and achieves the most divine feats with the smallest and least evident body. It can stop fear, relieve pain, create joy, and increase pity"
-Gorgias -Logos (verbal persuasion) -Speech is a powerful lord-->Dynastes Megas -Speech Lords over our body/ controls our perception of the world
Main lesson from Gorgias:
-If you want to see how things work, look out to the world where rhetoric happens ( einstein, astronomers, debates) -If you don't like whats happening, use logos to turn a WEAKer argument to a STRONGer one. -Not better or worse but Weaker or Stronger -The art of tragedy -Deceived=wisdom
Political or deliberative speech
-In assembly -Concerned with moving people to future action
Legal or forsenic speech
-In court rooms -Concern judgment of past action
Ceremonial or epideictic speech
-In public forums -Intended to strengthen shared beliefs about the current state of affairs
" A similar effect was achieved by the lawgiver of the Jews- no mean genius, for he both understood and gave expression to the power of the divinity as it deserved- when he wrote at the very beginning of his laws- I quote his words- "God said" - what? - "Let there be light.' And there was. 'Let there be earth." And there was. "~
-Longinus -the sublime -connects from multiple texts
Who was Gorgias?
-Older Sophist -Great teacher of GREECE-established himself -Philosopher, Orator, Rhetorician -Teacher of Isocrates -Politician & Ambassador to Athens -Stylistic Speaker and Writer (play of words) -Writer of "encomium of helen"
Who was Plato?
-Philosopher, democrtic critic, writer, and educator after the death of Socrates (his teacher) -Handsome aristocrat & playwright -CREATOR of school- "The Academy" in 387 BCE to teach philosophy -Created "Dialogue" form of philosophy -Took conversations with Socrates & turned them into literature--->Invented Socrates as dramatic character -W/o Plato we would not know Socrates
What was the significance of Gorgias' Helen/ "Encomium of Helen"?
-Revealed Gorgias' view of rhetoric -Sophistical effort to recreate/ make a mythical Helen of Troy-in contrast of her true reputation -In this context, Helen was to BLAME for The Trojan War -Gorgias wrote this speech in DEFENSE of Helen of Troy -established Greek domination of the area
Socrates fist speech, condeminging the "Evil Lover" (In Plato's dialogue: Phaderus)
-Says love is deceptive -Defines love as a madness, Eros, inborn desire for beauty overwhelms ones sense of morality or control -Says non lover is preferable to evil lover
Athenian Power
-The Golden Age of Greece 490-430 BCE• most powerful empire • sea and trading empire • got tribute from other city states • "we will defend you so you can't leave us"
What is the OPPOSITE of Kairos?
-The shielf of Achilles- Challenge Tradition (Homers Illiad) -Images of Greek life/ culture -Eternal Harvest -Cycle of life (doing what parents did) -NO "moment" or razors edge
Aristotle
-Took rhetoric more seriously -Realist/ political sense 4 rhetoric -A "techne" A "dynamis"
What are "proofs"?
-What Aristotle says you need in order to make an argument o Things you can use to PUT A SPEECH TOGETHER o Resources you have to provide evidence/ to make a case
Kairos as a God
-Wings on his back -Scale in his hand -Standing on razors edge -Trying to balance -Standing at a MOMENT, you might fall on either side, you have a lot of POWER but must achieve JUSTICE ~The moment of pressure and decision that comes on you~ ex: Themistocles took the moment & seized it
What is Dissoi Logoi?
-sophistic rhetoric- their idea of what language is for -Dialexis or Two Fold Argument -Plural/ Double argument -A way for sophist students to be able to argue BOTH sides of an issue -Training to outwit your opponent & take better position on them
Purpose for Gorgias' playful text written about Helen:
1. Advertisement for text 2. Teaching tool (proper defending/ hope for imitation) 3. Theory of Persuasion & Motivation 4. Mythical understanding of human motives 5. To make persuasion a SCIENTIFIC AFFAIR---getting people to understand rhetoric in a PSYCHOLOGICAL way
Gorgias' 4 possible motives on WHY Helen did what she did: (if she did it for any of these reasons, she is innocent)
1. Fate (necessity of Gods) 2. Force (physical violence-Paris abduction-blame the ones who abducted, not her) 3. Eros (Love-erotic love in terms of sight & hearing) 4. Logos (verbal persuasion-powerful lord, dynastes megas)
3 principle kinds of public speech (system of classical rhetoric)
1. Legal/ Forensic speecch (courtroom) 2. Political/ Deliberative speech 3. Ceremonial/ Epideictic
What 3 appeals did Plato provide as the IDEAL method of developing persuasion?
1. Reason---charioteer- reason doesn't propel us, horses move the chariot, why we do what we do) 2. Spirit---light horse-honor, disciplined horse that does the right thing 3. Feeling---dark horse, immediate attachment to seen things -Plato says we need to balance all three together so the chariot doesnt just sit there
Aristotle
384-322 BC -Born 384 BC--45 years after Plato was born-two decades after the defeat of athens -Time when Athens was growing in power again(peace,freedom, prosperity, established educations)
Plato
428-337 BCE -Born 430 -Raised during a time of war
Who was Socrates?
470-399 BCE -Teacher of Plato -Barefoot philosopher (free, on own,abandoned wealth & aristocracy) -Believe wisdom was key to virtue and power; not by killing/intimidation "I can not teach anybody anything, I can only make them think." - Taught through critical questioning: Empirical vs. Socratic questions -Tried & executed by post war democracy for "corrupting the youth"
(Gorgias' Helen) (Logos) Speech relies on:
>Errors of the soul --(fallible makeup of human beings, prey on weaknesses, misinterpret scenes) >False Argument --(mold false argument 4 motivation) > Deception of Opinion --(media portrayal, we believe it bc we are told it) ^' EVERYTHING is false argument, errors of the sould, deceptions. EVERYthing is relative to your situation. JUST one moment, cruel a year later
Idealized view of orator as someone that comines ethics, philosophy, physics, etc. that makes a civilized version of rhetoric---foundation of civilization—Civilization depends on rhetoric- its though rhetoric that we come together and cooperate to a general agreement of civilization—persuasion—and attend to higher values of oratory -eithical idea -Decorum: ability 4 person to adapt oratory to a situation in a way that is FITTING. The "grand style" depends on the situation. That's why there are 3 different ones (1. Plain 2. Middle 3. Grand)(aka, the 3 speeches cicero developed)—considering situation at hand
Cicero
What type of method was Platonic Dialect?
Method of discovering & clarifying truth through cooperative inquiry that uses questions AND answers to criticize current assertions & come to more accurate beliefs & definitions ^Clarifying and splitting into pieces to find the true meaning
What did classical rhetoric influence the development of?
New government and social organization
"Phaedrus":by Plato
Socrates runs into Phaedrus on the outskirts of Athens. Phaedrus has just come from Athens, where Lysias has given a speech on love. Socrates, stating that he is "sick with passion for hearing speeches",walks into the countryside with Phaedrus hoping that Phaedrus will repeat the speech. They sit by a stream under a plane tree and a chaste tree, and the rest of the dialogue consists of oration and discussion.
Four descriptions of The Sophists:
the 1st and most controversial teachers of rhetoric 1. Itinerant (traveling) Teachers 2. Competitive Style (pro-debate) 3. Speech Writers (portable writing, paid to write speeches) 4. Money (got paid for everything)
What was Phaedrus?
A speech written by Plato, using Platonic Dialect, about Pedastry - dialogue between SOCRATES & PHAEDRUS -Relationship to climb up the latter
who says that rhetoric presents alternative possibilities (not a moral situation, but rather a situation of competing goods)?
Aristotle
• "Its function is not simply to succeed in persuading, but rather to discover the means of coming near such success as the circumstance of each particular case allows..For example, it is not the function of medicine simply to make a man quite healthy, but to put him as far as may ne on the road to health"
Aristotle -perception -discovering the means of coming near success
What human ability does Aristotle think as most important?
Aristotle assumes that rationality is the most uniform and universal of human mental abilities -But emotional appeals are absolutely needed -Consider common topics to see if your argument can be developed in terms of any of them
Who was the most powerful empire during the 6th Century?
Athens (democratic)
Cicero
Born 2 centuries AFTER Plato -Ancient Rome -106-43 BCE -he was a lawyer
"The only thing that makes a statement true is evidence to support the truth of the statement "(ex: law court)
Dissoi Logoi- True & False (sophists)
In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, what is the 'fire' and what is the 'shadows'?
Fire = truth Shadows = sophistical rhetoric for manipulating the public to support the war
What is memory linked to for Plato?
For Plato memory is linked with earthly and heavenly places where ideal forms and true knowledge reside
Who criticized ignorance of demos (people)?
Socrates (plato's teacher)
What were Plato's views on Philosophy vs. Rhetoric?
He believed philosophy was above rhetoric -Philosophers should be kings -Philosophers could see the truth-"the fire" through dialectical inquiry
Lysias's speech, Praise of a "Non-Lover" (speech 1) (In Plato's dialogue: Phaedrus)
He says you should give your love to a non lover rather than someone one who cares for you. - a non love (erastes) who is not actually in love with the eromenos (beloved- young lover)
In 'The Golden Age' of Greece/Gorgias/Sophists/Athenican Democracy: Legal/Forensic speech= Political/Deliberative speech= Epideictic speech=
In 'The Golden Age' of Greece/Gorgias/Sophists/Athenian Democracy: =The Law Court (water clock) =Assembly- black/white rock-propose policies =Stages- Festival, Funeral, Theater
"The idea that the elements of a situation, its cultural and political contexts, rather than transcendent unchanging laws, will produce both the best solutions to problems in the best verbal means of presenting them persuasively"
Kairos
"The right opportunity or moment"
Kairos
What was the new aspect of Sophistical teaching- a kind of text book-?
Kairos
The preparation of a speech ensures a full range of appeals:
Logos- to reason Pathos- to emotion Ethos- to authority
Plato vs. Aristotle
Plato saw rhetoric as a way to DECEIVE the masses, Aristotle took a more practical route as saying it is very useful and a powerful tool
What are "the shadows"?
Plato says, these are the things in the world that manipulate us -Blames sophistical rhetoric for manipulating public to support the war
What method does Plato use in Phaedrus?
Platonic Dialectic
What was a key idea of Dissoi Logoi?
Relativism. The moment/ context you're is what makes something Right or Wrong. -Creates a "rhetorical situation"- two logoi struggle for dominance, but sophist believe they are dependent on situation
What is pisteis?
This is aristotles term for proof, belief, or state of mind--the effects of persuasion. (ethos,pathos,logos)
According to Aristotle, What do I need to be able to "see" to give me the power "Dynamis" to develop the art "techne" of rhetoric?
The SITUATION is what you see in order to react to it. The PROOFS are the resources you have in order make an argument.
Who was Pericles?
The great leader of Athens during The Peloponnesian War who decided to take out Sparta in the Peloponnesian peninsula (430-403 BC)
What WAR happened during the time of Plato?
The peloponnesian War 430-403 BC -(Between Greek City states) ATHENS vs. SPARTA Athens= greatest navy Sparta= greatest standing army -War of nutrition Athens gets DEFEATED by Sparta
Why did the Sophists arise?
The pressure of successful speaking in the Law Court, Assembly, and Stage under the public glare put a burden on the citizens. The sophists taught rhetoric/ how to USE language. -In response to context of Athenians (all about money & competition)
{Classical Rhetoric} Aristotle's system & it's elaboration by Cicero and Quintilian
The study of psychology & moral assumptions of people who might comprise an audience
What was the "great plan" of Athens?
To shove everyone inside the walls of the city & import all of our goods from afar (the sea)
When does rhetoric arise?
When there is conflict between communities
What does Crassus in Ciceros de oratore say about oratory?
You should be the ideal Orator - live by moral standards and communicate those -"There is no more noble thing than oratory! It gives birth to civilization." -Oratory is NOBLE -Responds to Antonius's first statement): "Bad oratory, yes. But great eloquence requires knowledge and science. The true orator is a philosopher too. - indeed bad oratory, but it requires ELOQUENCE
Epideictic speech
concerned with the end/ virtue
What is Cicero's De Oratore?
o Cicero created a dialogue between---Crassus & Antonius o Hypothetical dialogue—IDEAL vs. REAL o Written during exile o Criticizing decline of eloquence o Nostalgic for old days o Wanted to establish ideal orator o Question: what's the role of oratory in society?
What is an argument by anthymeme?
o State a conclusion (an effect) o Point to evidence (the cause) o Imply the reason or warrant (the rule) (Aristotle-proofs-logos-2typesofarguments)
Aristotle & the rhetorical ecosystem
o Talking about biology studies/ the world in general---It's not what the thing is in it's appearance, it's what the thing has been designed for. The beauty in people is their design and mission/ purpose in the world. -he looked at human beings as human "creatures" that could be studied, moved & influenced by surroundings • Powers of the soul, Nurturing, People becoming good servants and friends (similar to animals) o Aristotle always assumes that people seek to serve their own self-interest and that people perceive their self-interest differently
What is Phaedrus about?
written by Plato, a dialogue between Socrates, and Phaedrus, an interlocutor in several dialogues. -About the topic of love, the discussion in the dialogue revolves around the ART OF RHETORIC and how it should be practiced, and dwells on subjects as diverse as metempsychosis (the Greek tradition of reincarnation) and erotic love.
Defeat of Persians
• 2 assaults • Burned athens to the ground • Athens escaped town, destroyed entire fleet of persians by surprise
Democracy of Greece in "The Golden Age
• Arose in Athens • economy rose in Greece • Rising middle class against aristocracy • Athenians were most powerful • Avoid revolution and get ppl to communicate properly -Law Court
Dissoi Logoi-double argument
• Protagoras (485-410 BCE) • Asserts that "to every logos (speech/ argument) another logos is opposed"
How did Socrates die?
• Sparta tried to impose their rule but they didn't know how to so the Athenian democracy took back over; asked why did they loose the war? They blamed it on Socrates for undermining the war and corrupting the youth; they killed him -Plato watched (death by the sophists & democracy)
Classical Rhetoric
• individuals speaking to a body • begins in democratic context • formal rhetoric only really existed in Greece and continues through Rome • Medieval times transfers classical rhetoric to Europe • takes about 500 years to get going
