Freya Möbus: Socrates' Attack on Rhetoric, Gebunden

Klappentext

In Plato's Gorgias Socrates condemns rhetoricians for their craft. But how severe are his criticisms? And what is the reason behind his diatribe? In this ground-breaking book, Freya Möbus takes Socrates' abuse of rhetoricians seriously and, in doing so, proposes a bold reinterpretation of the meaning behind Plato's dialogue.

Against standard readings of the insults Socrates uses, Möbus argues that the 'kolax' is not merely a flatterer, the 'opsopoios' is not a pastry chef, and the 'kinaidos' is not a catamite. Through extensive historical and linguistic research, she demonstrates that when Socrates calls the rhetorician these names, he is in fact using ancient Greek stock insults to criticize the rhetorician for his disingenuous performance of friendship, which nourishes intemperance and disorder in the individual, the community, and even the cosmos. To Socrates, rhetoricians are wrongdoers, and this tirade, as this book shows, is not without purpose. Continuing her original argument, Möbus contends that Socrates puts the rhetorician on trial in the Gorgias for two reasons: to psychologically benefit the audience, informing them, in a humorous way, that they themselves have fallen victim to rhetoric, and to help the rhetorician, by clarifying to him the error of his ways.

By taking Socrates' words as precisely what they are - abusive speech - and uncovering the true meaning of his insults beyond flatterers, pastry chefs, and catamites, Socrates' Attack on Rhetoric transforms not only our interpretation of Socrates' condemnation of rhetoricians, but also his understanding of psychology and the practice of philosophy.