Rhetoric Review Mar 1996

What if Aristotle took sophists seriously? New readings in Aristotle'srhetoric

Bernard E. Jacob Hofstra University

Abstract

New research into the pre-Socratic arts of discourse (technai log6n) has not only enriched our understanding but also increased our respect for the work that the great pre-Socratic thinkers did.1 In this paper I want to encourage a rereading of the texts of Plato and Aristotle with the results of this research in mind. If scholars would accept that Plato and Aristotle, at least some of the time, reflected an understanding and respect for the work of the sophists and rhetors similar to the one now emerging, the result might well be a new, fruitful, and richer reading of the texts of Plato and Aristotle. I believe that as a result, both Plato and Aristotle would emerge as more rhetorical and nuanced than they have been previously thought to be. This seems a strange expectation. First, it is well known that Aristotle, for example, seldom seems to allude to particular individuals who were sophists with anything but scorn. Certainly, when he uses the word sophist as a general term, it is used in a pejorative sense for the besetting vices of philosophy and philosophers: self-promotion through speech and victory at any cost in speech. Such usage is itself a reflection on those who claim the name as a serious description of their work.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
1996-03-01
DOI
10.1080/07350199609389063
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Open Access
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Topics
classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism discourse analysis
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Jansen (2023)
    Revisiting Reverse Eikos : Dialectical Evaluation of a Rhetorical Argument
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  2. Kraus (2010)
    Perelman’s Interpretation of Reverse Probability Arguments as a Dialectical Mis…
    Philosophy & Rhetoric

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