Abstract
The writings of Plato and Aristotle provide character-transforming arguments. Both Plato and Aristotle treat the rhetorician Gorgias as an untrustworthy character and as an archetype of those willing to use sophistical deception. When rhetoric is defined in terms of outcomes, the rhetorician will do anything to persuade. Plato and Aristotle rejected Gorgias’ outcome orientation while advancing arguments for a true art of rhetoric with internal standards of excellence. They transformed the character of the rhetorician, from sophist to statesman. Mastering the art of rhetoric involves becoming a person of practical wisdom. This sort of transformed rhetorician is embodied in Cicero’s eloquent and ethical concern for the common good and St Augustine’s eloquent oration on the deepest longings of the restless heart.
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Notes
See C. Shields (2007) Aristotle (London: Taylor & Francis), 23.
The literature offering commentaries and interpretations of Plato’s Gorgias is vast. For examples, see D. Stauffer (2006) The Unity of Plato’s Gorgias (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
G. Klosko (1993) “Persuasion and Moral Reform in Plato and Aristotle,” Internationale de Philosophie, 184, 31–49.
R. Weiss (2003) “Oh, Brother! The Fraternity of Rhetoric and Philosophy in Plato’s Gorgias,” Interpretation, 30, 195–206.
R. Wardy (1996) The Birth of Rhetoric: Gorgias, Plato and Their Successors (London: Routledge).
S. Benardete (1991) The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy: Plato’s Gorgias and Phaedrus (Chicago: University of Chicago).
G. Vlastos (1991) Socrates, Ironist and Moral Philosopher (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).
I. Dilman (1979) Morality and the Inner Life: A Study in Plato’s Gorgias (New York: Barnes & Noble).
E. Dodds (1959) Plato: Gorgias (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
Olympiodorus the Younger (1998) Commentary on Plato’s Gorgias, trans. R. Jackson, et al. (Leiden: Brill).
For an excellent account from which I have greatly benefited, see E. Garver (1994) Aristotle’s Rhetoric: An Art of Character (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
See also A. Rorty (2011) “Aristotle on the Virtues of Rhetoric,” The Review of Metaphysics 54, 715–733.
K. Quinn (1996) “A Rhetorical Conception of Practical Rationality,” Journal of Economic Issues, 30, 1127–1142.
C. Rapp (2009) “The Nature and Goals of Rhetoric,” in G. Anagnostopoulos (ed.) A Companion to Aristotle (Oxford: Blackwell), 579–596.
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© 2013 Gregory R. Beabout
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Beabout, G.R. (2013). Transforming the Character of the Rhetorician. In: The Character of the Manager. Humanism in Business Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137304063_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137304063_14
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