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CU-Boulder COMM 3300 - Our Classical Heritage

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Lecture 3Readings of the Week:Poulakos, John. 1983. "Toward a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric." Philosophy & Rhetoric 16 (1): 35-48Plato, Gorgias selectionsAristotle, Rhetoric, Book 1, Parts 1-3The Canon of rhetoric began in antiquity. We will focus this week on some of the issues that concerned the ancients.The philosopher Plato spend quite a bit of time in one of his dialogues trying to figure out “What is Rhetoric?” (the very question we side-stepped in Week One, Plato would never allow us to get away with that completely)Aristotle by contrast, provides us with a systematic how-to manual that begins with telling us categorically what exactly rhetoric is and how it should be classifiedOur Classical TraditionPlato: What's his problem with rhetoric?Aristotle: The function of rhetoric"The way in which and the degree to which one senses rhetoric is dependent on one's set toward reality." R.L. Scott, "On Not Defining Rhetoric." Maps of Athenian Empire at its HeightPlato (427-347 BCE) & Aristotle (384-322 BCE)Painting , "The School of Athens" (1509) by RaphaelPlato (427-347 BCE) & Aristotle (384-322 BCE)male model head shotsPlato's Problem:Sophists (like Gorgias) wanted to deal with the contingent by learning to master itPlato sought to deal with the contingent by transcending it.Reality: The State of the Art in Greece: Fifth Century BCEParmenides "Being has no coming- into-being and no destruction, for it is whole of limb, without motion and without end."Heraclitus The state of the world is change. "You can't step in the same river twice." Only logos (language, naming) brings an image of stability to the worldSophists and Reality:Protagoras(485-411 BCE) "Man is the measure of all things." Speaking well was vital to having a stable, civil society.Gorgias (485-380 BCE) "Truth does not exist; if it did exist it would not be knowable; and if it were knowable, it would not be communicable."Gorgias's program of study:We need citizens to create illusions: we need to be able to pick the best illusionSometimes we need rationality; other times we need emotion and style Rhetoric is the key to governance–Kairos: Proper moment to speak (or not)–Kosmos: Order. Proper length, proper proportions (intros and conclusions)Plato's DualismAttempts to bring together Parmenides's stability and Heraclitus's flux.Two states: – Noumenal: The perfect, permanent world of the forms. – Phenomenal: The imperfect reflection of the noumenal in which we liveFormal Entities:The Good The FormsMathematical objectsKind of Understanding:Episteme: Genuine KnowledgeDUALISM DUALISMDUALISM DUALISMVisible Entities:ImagesSensed thingsKind of Understanding:Doxa: Opinion, Probable beliefGiven Plato's view of reality, what is rhetoric's role?Truth exists outside of human affairsCommunication should be dialectical: to bring the soul back to The GoodLearning is a process of discovery (rather than inventing)Learning geometry is discovering a priori Truths: learning virtue, beauty, etc. is the same thingPlato's Gorgias:If rhetoric is about human affairs only, it is about nothing real: it can get doxabut not episteme.If rhetoric is about seeking The Truth then it is unnecessary, since The Truth does not need stylistic flourishes.Rhetoric can only be dangerous since it can be used to conceal The TruthAristotle, (384-322 BCE) :Plato's studentMuch more connected to the world than his teacherThe world is not caused by forms: it is caused by Purposes or Functions or Goals (Teleology)Aristotle’s View of Nature:Aristotle was an empirical investigatorWrote on physics but was the first to write on biology proper (rather than medicine).To know the essence of a thing is to know its cause."When we know the fact we inquire about the reason why (e.g., knowing that [the moon] is eclipsed...we inquire into the reason why it is eclipsed)"An acorn exists to turn into an oak tree. Oak trees thus exist because of an internal drive to do soAristotle's Natural Man:TeleologyThings are defined by their function/purpose/goal.Man is the Political Animal:"Man alone of the animals possesses logos...For it is the unique property of man...that they alone have the perception of the good and bad and right and wrong other such things, and it is a partnership in these things that makes a household and a polis." --Aristotle, The PoliticsThe function of man is to live together in the polisThe goal of the polis is the happiness of its citizens.Different governments require different characters of citizens. All governments need rhetoric: Monarchy: Kings need respect of citizens Democracy: Citizens need to debate in the public forumAristotle's Rhetoric:Good example of Aristotle as a synthesizer:Drawing together other teachings on rhetoricDrawing on Aristotle's other worksNotice how much Aristotle writes about "functions," "purposes," or "ends."Notice how important the "situation" is for AristotleAristotle's functional categories:Definition of RhetoricDivisions of Rhetoricpolitical forensic ceremonialModes of Persuasion:ethos(character)logos(reasoning)pathos(emotion)Propositions:complete proofsprobabilities signsModes of Proof:exampleenthymeme-general lines of arg-special lines of arg Lecture 3 Readings of the Week:  Poulakos, John. 1983. "Toward a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric." Philosophy & Rhetoric 16 (1): 35-48 Plato, Gorgias selections Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book 1, Parts 1-3 The Canon of rhetoric began in antiquity. We will focus this week on some of the issues that concerned the ancients. The philosopher Plato spend quite a bit of time in one of his dialogues trying to figure out “What is Rhetoric?” (the very question we side-stepped in Week One, Plato would never allow us to get away with that completely) Aristotle by contrast, provides us with a systematic how-to manual that begins with telling us categorically what exactly rhetoric is and how it should be classified Our Classical Tradition Plato: What's his problem with rhetoric?  Aristotle: The function of rhetoric "The way in which and the degree to which one senses rhetoric is dependent on one's set toward reality." R.L. Scott, "On Not Defining Rhetoric."   Maps of Athenian Empire at its Height Plato (427-347


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