Lecture 1 - Philosophers and Sophists
● Communication: sharing information via spoken language, written language or
another medium
● Language & communication a problem in ancient culture/philosophy
● Sophists (already have wisdom): group of travelling teachers, willing to teach you
● Teaching: concerned with rhetoric, speaking well = convincing people
● Philosophers (love wisdom): dispute with sophists
“Why would I want to persuade someone with my opinion, when I don’t know the
truth behind the thing?” (philosopher)
● Sophists claim they can teach you how to convince other people: seem to claim to
convince people with ALL topics
○ philosopher suspicious: says you cannot know everything about all topics
● Chose different form of communication: for Rhetorics it is speech (philosophers say
this form can misguide us, not able to address questions)
● Plato: preferred form is dialogue = give opinion & ask questions
● Good liar: should be good in Rhetorics, persuade someone about something that is
not true without other seeing it is not true
○ rhetoric: art of persuasion & speaking well
○ language a tool to misguide us
● Philosophers are confronted with: can we find the truth of our reality = come to
knowledge
○ language ambiguous: tool to find truth and come to knowledge
○ critic greek myths: poets are not telling truth/knowledge
● Logos:
○ meaning: word or argument
○ used in early definition of human being
● what is human being: living being/ animal but particular kind = possesses logos
○ capacity for language and rationality
● Language & rationality close connected
Text 1 Plato – Phaedrus
● Dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus about discourse
● S. explains how philosophical understanding of the truth or any matter & the varieties
of human soul and their rhetorical susceptibilities: basis for rhetorically accomplished
speech
● Truth is known only through philosophical study
● Someone who knows the truth can toy with his audience and mislead them
● How a speech must be structured: “Every speech must be put together like a
living creature, with a body of its own.”
● Preamble with which a speech must begin, Statement of Facts and Evidence of
Witnesses concerning it, Indirect Evidence, Claims to Plausibility, Confirmation and
Supplementary Confirmation, Refutation, Supplementary Refutation (p.11)
● Writings cannot contain or constitute knowledge of any important matter, knowledge
can only be lodged in a mind
● Knowledge is only in souls
● All great arts require endless talk and ethereal speculation about nature
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller h1sch. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.58. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.