Rhetoric Society Quarterly Aug 2021

Disproof without Silence: How Plato Invented the Post-Truth Problem

Robin Reames Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University

Abstract

This essay shows how Plato uses methods of fourth-century rhetorical theory to build a theory of language-as-signification, which he constructed to overcome the problem of lies and “false speech” in sophistic culture. By deconstructing Plato’s theorization of signification, I question the historical process by which the “sovereignty of the signifier” (in Michel Foucault’s terms) came to be established, and I reposition Plato as a theorist in the rhetorical tradition who, by redefining the key terms of onoma, rhêma, and logos, created a theory of language that made lies all the more potent by reducing them to “mere signification.” It is this understanding of language as merely signifying and referencing the world that, I argue, lies at the root of the post-truth problem in 21st-century politics. While Plato’s truth problem is characterized by “silence without disproof,” our own post-truth problem is characterized as “disproof without silence.”

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2021-08-08
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2021.1947518
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism african american rhetorics argument
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (34)

  1. Annas Julia (1982)
    Language and Logos
     ↗
  2. Ball James (2017)
    Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World
  3. Bassett Louis (2004)
    L’imaginer et le dire: Scripta minora
  4. Bluck R. (1957)
    10.2307/629356
    Journal of Hellenistic Studies  ↗
  5. Cole Thomas (1991)
    Origins of Rhetoric in Ancient Greece
Show all 34 →
  1. Cornford Francis M. (1935)
    Plato’s Theory of Knowledge: The Theaetetus and the Sophist of Plato
  2. Cortada James W. (2019)
    Fake News Nation: The Long History of Lies and Misinterpretations in America
  3. D’Ancona Matthew (2017)
    Post-Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back
  4. Davis Evan (2017)
    Post-Truth: Why We Have Reached Peak Bullshit and What We Can Do about It
  5. Denyer Nicholas (2008)
    Protagoras by Plato
  6. de Rijk L. M. (1986)
    Plato’s “Sophist”: A Philosophical Commentary
  7. Fine Gail (1977)
    10.2307/2218949
    Philosophical Quarterly  ↗
  8. Foucault Michel (1972)
    Archaeology of Knowledge
  9. (2013)
    ———. Lectures on the Will to Know: Lectures at the Collège De France 1970–1971
  10. Hackforth Reginald (1945)
    10.1017/S0009838800029840
    Classical Quarterly  ↗
  11. Heidegger Martin (1962)
    Being and Time
  12. (2000)
    ———. Introduction to Metaphysics
  13. McNeill William (1998)
    Pathmarks
  14. Hoekstra Marieke (2003)
    10.3406/antiq.2003.2507
    L’antiquité classique  ↗
  15. Kalligas Paul (2012)
    Presocratics and Plato: Festschrift at Delphi in Honor of Charles Kahn
  16. Keyes Ralph (2004)
    The Post-Truth Era: Dishonesty and Deception in Contemporary Life
  17. 10.7551/mitpress/11483.001.0001
     ↗
  18. Ong Walter S. J. (2003)
    Orality and Literacy
  19. 10.1080/00455091.1972.10716866
     ↗
  20. Plato. Cratylus. Plato: The Collected Dialogues. Translated by Benjamin Jowett, Edited by Edith Hamilton and …
     ↗
  21. (1993)
    ———. Sophist
  22. (1990)
    ———. Theaetetus
  23. [Protagoras]. “Protagoras.” The Older Sophists. Translated by Michael J. O’Brien, edited by Rosamond Kent Spr…
  24. Reames Robin (2018)
    Seeming and Being in Plato’s Rhetorical Theory
     ↗
  25. Sallis John (1986)
    Being and Logos: The Way of Platonic Dialogue
  26. Schiappa Edward (2003)
    Protagoras and Logos: A Study in Greek Philosophy and Rhetoric
  27. Schofield Malcolm (1982)
    Language and Logos
     ↗
  28. Thornton M. T. (1970)
    10.1017/S0012217300050502
    Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review  ↗
  29. Zuckert Catherine H.
    Review of Metaphysics
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Philosophy & Rhetoric Dec 2023
    Guest Editor’s Introduction: A Moment for Kairos ↗
    Tina Skouen
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis african american rhetorics argument race and writing editorial matter
  2. Philosophy & Rhetoric Aug 2014
    Lacan in Public: Psychoanalysis and the Science of Rhetoric ↗
    Michael Kaplan
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis african american rhetorics argument public rhetoric affect and writing body and rhetoric
  3. Poroi Feb 2026
    Using Stasis Theory as a Heuristic for Examining Epistemological Dilemmas in a Post-Truth Landscape ↗
    Bruce Bowles
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument
  4. Res Rhetorica Jan 2026
    Ethos – between vir bonus and VIA: Virtue ethics in contemporary rhetorical education ↗
    Agnieszka Budzyńska-Daca
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory argument
  5. Philosophy & Rhetoric Oct 2025
    The Intellectual and Cultural Origins of Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca’s New Rhetoric Project: Commentaries on and Translations of Seven Foundational Articles, 1933–1958 ↗
    Christopher W. Tindale
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis revision argument collaborative writing editorial matter