ABSTRACT Our understanding of the origins and early development of Greek rhetoric can be enlarged and sharpened by attending to the specific historical, cultural, and material contexts in which it was embedded. We perceive the cultural meanings and physical challenges of Greek rhetorical practice only to the extent that we consider the actual places and spaces in which it unfolded. This study examines and assesses the bouleutêrion (council house) as a venue for oratorical performance in the ancient Greek world, surveying a range of such buildings and describing their historical contexts, physical settings and configurations, and suitability as oratorical venues.

Research Article| January 01 2006 Sophistical Wisdom: Politikê Aretê and “Logosophia” Christopher Lyle Johnstone Christopher Lyle Johnstone Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Philosophy & Rhetoric (2006) 39 (4): 265–289. https://doi.org/10.2307/20697163 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation Christopher Lyle Johnstone; Sophistical Wisdom: Politikê Aretê and “Logosophia”. Philosophy & Rhetoric 1 January 2006; 39 (4): 265–289. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/20697163 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectivePenn State University PressPhilosophy & Rhetoric Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright © 2006 The Pennsylvania State University2006The Pennsylvania State University Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Abstract The performative dimension of oral rhetoric has been a central concern of theorists throughout the history of the tradition. Awareness of the persuasive power of the human voice is especially conspicuous in the teachings of Gorgias of Leontini. When he claims that “speech is a powerful lord,” Gorgias articulates a profound insight into how the human mind and body respond to sounds produced by the voice. By examining Gorgias' views of the potency of speech in the context of the oral, poetic tradition of ancient Greece, we can appreciate more fully the sources of this insight. Moreover, contemporary research in psycho-physiology suggests that Gorgias grasped an important dimension of the human mind's fundamental nature.

Abstract The orthodox liberal conception of society and politics has proven incapable in this country of sustaining a system of social relations in which individualistic and communitarian impulses are balanced, and in which personal freedoms and community controls are not seen as being mutually antagonistic. William Sullivan looks to the classical notion of citizenship for a vision of life that is simultaneously political and moral. The “classical notion” he promotes has its roots in theAthenian conception of citizenship both as aform of consciousness and as a call to duty. Thisform of consciousness grows out of an awareness that we are communal beings and that members of a community can influence the course of both civic and natural events. It ultimately embraces the ideas that social knowledge is fluid and tentative, that multiple viewpoints can claim legitimacy, and that resolutions of social conflicts are achieved through persuasion. Thus, the essential. act of citizenship is “doing rhetoric,” and its most fundamental duties are to participate in governance, to listen and respond to others, to acknowledge our own fallibility, and to advocate for our own views as we participate in civic life.

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