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Gorgias By Socrates Rhetoric Essay

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In the tale Gorgias by Plato, Socrates debates with four colleagues on what is rhetoric. To be able to answer if rhetoric is based on nature or convention you must first ask the question, what is rhetoric? Rhetoric stated by Socrates is the skill of making speeches (448d). Gorgias states that rhetoricians have the power of persuasions (452e). Rhetoric is having the power to persuade people in changing their opinion threw the power of speeches. Socrates states that persuasion is produced from opinion, not knowledge (454b-455a). Socrates states that rhetoric is based off opinion because if persuasion was knowledge it would be true, but not all persuasion is true. If persuasion was the same thing as knowledge it would never be false because you …show more content…

Callicles states that in most cases nature and convention oppose each other, something that is shameful in nature may be okay in convention and vice sera (482e-a). Callicles states that laws are conventions made by the weak or the majority to prevent the strong from being able to take advantage of them (483b-c). This leading into natural the strong rule over the weak which is what he later calls the natural justice (483c-484a). A man that is strong will break past the conventional restraints and rule over the weak. Callicles shows that convention is made by the people while nature is the ultimate outcome or what is truly right. Callicles believes that the naturally strong can do at they wish because they are able to get away with it (484a-b). Socrates refutes these claims by saying that the stronger are the mightier and the mightiest are the many (488c-d). Meaning that the stronger are the ones that make the laws so by nature the strongest are the ones that make convention (488e). Rhetoric has the lowest power, the flattery used in rhetoric is to persuade people, this persuasion only works if most people believe it to work. Without ignorant people a rhetorician would be

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