Socrates says to Gorgias, "If he is ignorant, you who are teacher of rhetoric will not teach him--it is not your business; but you will make him seem to the multitude to know them, when he does not know them; and seem to be a good man when he is not."
Throughout history, rhetoric has been used to convince people to believe or buy into whatever the leader of their nation or country is *selling,* no matter how wrong or awful the message or product is (I'm thinking of Hitler). What is it of rhetoric that makes it capable of having such an overwhelming effect on people that they forget their own personal morals and beliefs?
I think that rhetoric has the potential to "fill the gaps" in the thinking of the ignorant and in doing this, it creates a sense of logic, or the illusion of logic, which has the potential to override personal beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThat, I think, is what we must strive for. I would tell Socrates,"MLK...nuff said."
ReplyDeleteIt's a powerful tool, and it's one of the things that makes Aristotle so compelling, I think: he is really trying to answer that question you ask, Jodi - and he has complex psychological answers that have to do with technique, with how a rhetor can get into the head of the audience: by leaving out premises, by saying things that the audience already believes, and so flattering them, by evoking certain sorts of emotions. Perhaps audiences can forget, but they can also be inspired (which perhaps makes them forget sometimes) or even change their minds about something.
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