Plato on the Value of Philosophy

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Cambridge University Press, Mar 30, 2017 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 217 pages
Plato was the first philosopher in the western tradition to reflect systematically (and often critically) on rhetoric. In this book, Tushar Irani presents a comprehensive and innovative reading of the Gorgias and the Phaedrus, the only two Platonic dialogues to focus on what an 'art of argument' should look like, treating each of the texts individually, yet ultimately demonstrating how each can best be understood in light of the other. For Plato, the way in which we approach argument typically reveals something about our deeper desires and motivations, particularly with respect to other people, and so the key to understanding his views on the proper practice of argument lies in his understanding of human psychology. According to this reading, rhetoric done well is simply the practice of philosophy, the pursuit of which has far-reaching implications for how we should relate to others and how we ought to live.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Socrates and Gorgias on the Aims of Argument
29
Towards an Art of Argument
46
Pleasure Virtue and the Human Good
88
Socrates and Lysias on the Aims of Love III
111
Loving Wisdom
131
Loving Others
146
The SelfMotion of the Soul
164
Conclusion
183
Bibliography
193
Subject Index
203
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About the author (2017)

Tushar Irani is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and the College of Letters at Wesleyan University, Connecticut.

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