Question 1

What were Plato's strongest objections in Gorgias to rhetoric as practiced by the Sophists?

Accepted Answer

Plato's first concern with rhetoric is that it does not embody an adequate conception of justice and is therefore dangerous. Secondly, he says that many people are attracted to rhetoric for its power to manipulate and coerce. He believes that these two points will mislead people and result to the corruption of the polis.

Question 2

Why is Plato concerned about the difference between mere belief and true knowledge, particularly concerning the issues of justice?

Accepted Answer

Plato says that the Sophists deal in mere belief (pistis) about justice and not in true knowledge(episteme). A true understanding of justice takes a long time to achieve; Sophists in courtrooms are only able to create beliefs about justice. Plato sees this as dangerous, as people operating only on beliefs about justice instead of true knowledge will commit injustices.

Question 3

What criteria must a pursuit satisfy in order to be considered a techne by Plato?

Accepted Answer

A techne is an art, discipline, or skill that takes a long time to understand and that produces a socially useful outcome. Types of techne include medicine, navigation, governing, and military leadership. A techne must also provide a logos, or a reasoned explanation of how the art achieves its goals. Practitioners of simple knacks cannot provide such explanations.

Question 4

Plato argues in Gorgias that rhetoric is a sham art. He also discusses a number of true arts. What is the true art to which rhetoric corresponds? What does Plato apparently mean by the comparison?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Plato argues in Gorgias that rhetoric is...

Question 5

Identified by their characteristic loves, what are the various types of souls Plato discusses in Phaedrus?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Identified by their characteristic loves, what are...

Question 6

What is the specific role assigned to a true art of rhetoric by Plato in Phaedrus?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the specific role assigned to...

Question 7

Do you agree with Socrates that rhetoric works best "among the ignorant"? Does the quality of an audience govern the quality of the rhetoric it is likely to hear?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Do you agree with Socrates that rhetoric...

Question 8

Based on your reading of this chapter and Chapter 2, has Plato been fair to the Sophists? Does he have a good argument against them?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Based on your reading of this chapter...

Question 9

Does Plato make a convincing case in Phaedrus that there may be a true and just art of rhetoric?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Does Plato make a convincing case in...

Question 10

Plato suggests in Gorgias that certain arts such as justice and medicine are essential to society. Others, such as the Sophist's brand of rhetoric, are imitations of these essential arts. If you had the opportunity to set up a society's system of government, what role, if any, would the study of rhetoric play in it? Would you place any restrictions on the practice of this art?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Plato suggests in Gorgias that certain arts...

Question 11

Respond to Plato's suggestion in Gorgias that the absence of a transforming logos for rhetoric renders the practice a mere knack, not a virtuous techne. Does a systematic explanation of a practice render it morally improved?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Respond to Plato's suggestion in Gorgias that...

Question 12

Do you think that Plato has a point when he suggests in Phaedrus that there are different types of human souls dominated by the different things they love? Is his psychology too simple, or does he perhaps have an insight?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Do you think that Plato has a...

Question 13

In Gorgias, Plato did not believe that rhetoric was a true _______________, the Greek term meaning an art, discipline, or skill that produced a socially useful outcome.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In Gorgias, Plato did not believe that...

Question 14

One of Plato's concern's with rhetoric as an art was that it operated using "mere beliefs" or "mere opinions" on justice rather than _______________, the Greek term for "true knowledge."

Accepted Answer

The answer of One of Plato's concern's with rhetoric as...

Question 15

_______________ is the text by Plato in which Socrates discusses a form of rhetoric that may achieve the status of a true art, and in which he discusses how souls are divided into three parts.

Accepted Answer

The answer of _______________ is the text by Plato in...

Question 16

Plato believed that a useful art of rhetoric would convince the lower parts of the soul to voluntarily submit to the _______________ loving part of the soul in order to produce harmony and justice.

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The answer of Plato believed that a useful art of...

Question 17

In Gorgias, _______________ is the "sham art" that Socrates identifies as appearing to maintain one's health rather than actually maintaining physical health.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In Gorgias, _______________ is the "sham art"...

Question 18

A great concern of Plato's was that because rhetoric was not founded in true justice it would corrupt young people as well as the ________________, the Greek term for the city-state.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A great concern of Plato's was that...

Question 19

Which of the following was the Sophist whose name meant "colt" and in Plato's Gorgias represented the generation of young men that were infatuated with the Sophists, seeing rhetoric as a path to fame and wealth?

Accepted Answer

Polus is the character in Plato's Gorgias whose name means "colt," symbolizing the young generation drawn to the Sophists for the allure of power and success through rhetoric.

Question 20

Which of the following was the Sophist who believed in natural justice and said that "he who is better and more intelligent should rule and have the advantage over baser men"? To Plato, this Sophist represents the danger rhetoric poses to society by allowing people to think they are just while living unjustly.

Accepted Answer

The Sophist who believed in natural justice and said that "he who is better and more intelligent should rule and have the advantage over baser men" is Callicles. Plato uses Callicles as an example of how rhetoric can be used to justify unjust behavior and the belief in the superiority of the strong over the weak.

Quiz 3: Plato Vs the Sophists: Rhetoric on Trial