-The first sophists

-Founders of ancient greek rhetoric

-Corax taught Tisias

-Influenced Plato, Aristotle and Cicero

-Greek Philosopher

-created teacher of virtue

-Man is the measure of all things

- "Father of debate"

-truth is subjective

-teacher of public speaking

-speech can be seductive

-well paid

1. Nothing actually exist

2. If anything actually exist, it would be incomprehensible to humans

3. If anything were to be comprehended, it could not be communicated to others.

-studied with Protagoras and Gorgias in ancient Greece

-attacked Plato and Socrates

-had a practical study program

-bettoer to form probable opinions about useful things than to have exact knowledge of useless things

-5th century BCE

-no actual stories of Socrates, only through Aristotle

-not a loved figure

-executed in 399 for corrupting the young

-"The Academy"

-wrote in dialogue form

-dialectical method (only works if advocates are equally skilled)

-distrusted Athenian Democracy (only intellectuals should rule)

-disliked the sophists (competition for students)

-believed there was a kind of REAL TRUTH

-Dialogue in three parts

1. Gorgias' claims to teach persuasion (Socrates believes that he is old and confused)

2. Socrates said that "rhetoric is not conductive to good life"

3. rhetoric and its powers are corrupt

-Version 1: Plato always distinguished between false and true rhetoric (Black & Conley)

-Version 2: Plato always despised rhetoric; dialectic was only true art (Brownstein)

-4th century BCE rhetorician

-studied at Plato's Academy

-Objective truth

-Idealism

-Realism

-prolific writer

-physical phenomenom

-observable actions more real than words

Theme: If all the ideas are present, the truth will unvail

If we all study rhetoric, we are doing a good thing

Better resist deception

Book One: Overview of the means of persuasion

-how ppl are persuaded and categorizes it

Book Two: Speaker credibility and the emotions

Book Three: Arrangement and Style

-pratical questions

-the search for the roots of knowledge

-What is knowledge?

-How is it acquired?

-What do ppl know?

-How do we know what we know?

-idea that some elements of an experience are relative or dependent on other aspects or elements

-humans can only understand and evaluate beliefs and behaviors only in terms of their own historical an cultural context

-no absolute truth

-places where ppl go over and over again to get the audience to believe them

-assume audience knows one belief, then you build your argument on that belief

-proof beyond control of the rhetor.

-facts in the world that could be used by the rhetor that can't be controlled

-you can't make them go away with words

-We do research to find inartistic proofs

-come from the speaker

-ethos(speaker credibility)

-pathos(emotional appeal)

-logos(logic or reason in arguements)

-Plato says "true philosophers are free from deceptions of mere opinion

-you know so much about something that you go beyond opinions and argued the mere, deep true knowledge 

The rational method involved in producing an object or accomplishing a goal or objective.

-the logical way of doing something

-resembles episteme

-fulfillment of funtion or pupose

1. exact knowledge is useless - better to have opinion

2. Thinking well and speaking well go together

3. Ideal speaker is educated - need knowledge to think clearly which means speaking clearly

4. Ideal speaker has sense of appropriateness (always doing right thing at the right time)

5. Ideal speech uses lofty style (avoid slang)

6. Good moral character and virtue (arete)

Rhetoric and Politics - need to speak well to engage in polical process

1. Deliberative>back and forth argument on a course of action

2. Epideitic>talking about a person's worthiness (praise or blame)

3. Forensic>debate

Gorgias and other sophists speculated "about the structure and function of language"

-an epideitic speech praising Helen of Troy and ridding her of her blame for leaving Sparta

1. Invention (inventio)-need to do research, finding what to say

2. Arrrangement (dispositio)-organizing material

3. Style (actio)-use language in particular way

4. Memory (memoria)- how well you memorized the speech

5. Delivery (elocutio)-your body movements and tone

-Denfender of Democracy

-perferred politics or philosophy

-very eloquent and gifted orator w/ florid style

-influenced by Isocrates

-created The Five Canons

De Inventione

De Oratore

-On Invention

-Focus: Invention and stasis: explained how he can invent arguments to get passes stasis.

-focused on court room training

stasis: types

1. definition            3. quality (argument good or bad)

2. fact or possibility    4. jurisdiction

-On Oratory

-written as dialogue

- Book 1(Day 1):demands of real eloquence

- Book 2 (Day 2): takes on bulk of 5 Canons

- Book 3 (Day 3): more canon and eloquence

-must have wisdom to be great speaker

-who should be admired

-written by Pseudo-Cicero

-contained Five Canons of Rhetoric

-taught rhetorical practice

-Three levels of styles

1. Plain

2. Middle

3. Grand

- there was controversy on when you should use a certain level of style

- levels were different variancey in formalities

-influence as rhetorical educator

-similiarities to Cicero: practical notions of how we use language to get things done

- strived to make the perfect student

-written like organizational plan: 12 volumes

- Rhetorical Theories:

1. "Good Man" (vir bonus) concept

2. Speaking and writing

3. Use of Rules

4. Educational Theories