Gorgias

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Speech was omnipotent to Gorgias. As a result, he spent all his time instructing exclusively in the art of Rhetoric. He claimed not to teach virtue, arête, because virtue is different for everyone. For example, political, excellence, and moral virtues differ from person to person. The focus of Gorgias is rhetoric. Plato’s views eventually work their way to the surface though his representation of characters in the dialogues. Some of the rhetorical views Plato presents in Gorgias, are the roles flattery plays in persuasion, the relationship between knowledge and truth, and a just use of rhetoric.
Gorgias taught a technique called karios, recognizing and acting at the opportune time. It involves having the right words to say at the right time and waiting for the best moment in time to make a statement or ask a leading question. In order to be a master of karios, one has to know what to say, what they are not allowed to say, and then decide between side stepping an issue and countering it. Realizing the moral fiber of the argument, in reference to the situation, is a key to having fine timing. Gorgias makes his rhetoric seem poetic by means of literary elements like antithesis and karios. However, Socrates had a different view about rhetoric and its artistic qualities. According to Socrates, “rhetoric seems not to be an artistic pursuit at all, but that of a shrewd, courageous spirit which is naturally clever at dealing with men; and I call the chief part of it flattery” (23). Socrates sees through the artful poetry and views rhetoric as flattery. I agree that rhetoric is “smooth talk”, but it performs its purpose well. One of its purposes is persuasiveness. Using flattery can be a helpful tool for persuading. Protagoras would probably counter Socrates’ argument by reminding him that although flattery is part of rhetoric, it is also a subject worth studying because of the need for public speaking. One must also be able to recognize an attempt to flatter and be able to counter it with the right response. Protagoras would counter Plato’s claim by emphasizing the need to study areas of rhetoric for survival in a community that is litigious, like Athens.
One of the complaints Plato had with rhetoric is that a good rhetorician can persuade anything without having knowledge of the subject. Near the beginning of the discourse, he talks about a physician that cannot convince his patient to take the medicine needed to restore the patients’ health.

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