Advances in the History of Rhetoric Jan 2006

Structural <i>Logos</i> in Heraclitus and the Sophists

David C. Hoffman

Abstract

Abstract This essay is an inquiry into Heraclitus' conception of logos and its importance for sophistic thought. Following G. S. Kirk, I argue that Heraclitus used logos to designate structure or ordered composition, both in language and in the physical world. Further, I propose that early sophists like Gorgias and Protagoras shared with Heraclitus a structural conception of logos. The essay proceeds by reviewing various understandings of Heraclitus and his philosophy, making the case that Heraclitus did use logos to signify structure or “ordered composition,” and by exploring the relationship between Heraclitus, read in this way, and the sophists.

Journal
Advances in the History of Rhetoric
Published
2006-01-01
DOI
10.1080/15362426.2006.10557259
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Topics
rhetorical theory multimodality argument

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (2)

  1. Hoffmann (2003)
    Logos as composition
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Schiappa (1991)
    Sophistic rhetoric: Oasis or mirage?
    Rhetoric Review
Also cites 8 works outside this index ↓
  1. Farrar (1988)
    The Origins of Democratic Thinking: The Invention of Politics in Classical Athens.
     ↗
  2. Frankel (1938)
    “A Thought Pattern in Heraclitus.”
    American Journal of Philology  ↗
  3. Gagarin (2001)
    “Did the Sophists Aim to Persuade?”
    Rhetorica  ↗
  4. Guthrie (1962)
    History of Greek Philosophy, Volume One.
     ↗
  5. Kirk (1983)
    The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts, 2nd ed.
     ↗
  6. Minar (1939)
    “The Logos of Heraclitus.”
    Classical Philology  ↗
  7. Poster (2006)
    “The Task of the Bow: Heraclitus' Rhetorical Critique of Epic Language.”
    Philosophy and Rhetoric  ↗
  8. Schiappa (1992)
    “Rhetorike: What's in a Name? Toward a Revised History of Early Greek Rhetorical Theory.”
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network →

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