The Rhetoric of Plato's Republic: Democracy and the Philosophical Problem of Persuasion
by James L. Kastely
University of Chicago Press, 2015 eISBN: 978-0-226-27876-6 | Cloth: 978-0-226-27862-9 Library of Congress Classification JC71.K37 2015 Dewey Decimal Classification 321.07
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Plato isn’t exactly thought of as a champion of democracy, and perhaps even less as an important rhetorical theorist. In this book, James L. Kastely recasts Plato in just these lights, offering a vivid new reading of one of Plato’s most important works: the Republic. At heart, Kastely demonstrates, the Republic is a democratic epic poem and pioneering work in rhetorical theory. Examining issues of justice, communication, persuasion, and audience, he uncovers a seedbed of theoretical ideas that resonate all the way up to our contemporary democratic practices.
As Kastely shows, the Republic begins with two interrelated crises: one rhetorical, one philosophical. In the first, democracy is defended by a discourse of justice, but no one can take this discourse seriously because no one can see—in a world where the powerful dominate the weak—how justice is a value in itself. That value must be found philosophically, but philosophy, as Plato and Socrates understand it, can reach only the very few. In order to reach its larger political audience, it must become rhetoric; it must become a persuasive part of the larger culture—which, at that time, meant epic poetry. Tracing how Plato and Socrates formulate this transformation in the Republic, Kastely isolates a crucial theory of persuasion that is central to how we talk together about justice and organize ourselves according to democratic principles.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
James L. Kastely is professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston. He is the author of Rethinking the Rhetorical Tradition: From Plato to Postmodernism.
REVIEWS
“A startling reinterpretation of Plato, one that stands the standard narrative of the history of rhetoric on its head. Kastely persuasively takes the supposed archenemy of rhetoric and makes of him instead a theorist deeply concerned with rhetoric’s possibilities, and he does so with impeccable scholarship in a tour de force extended rereading of Plato’s most-read work.”
— Jeffrey Walker, University of Texas at Austin
“Plato’s Republic presents a faraway, made-up world, a world too distant from the rough-and-tumble world of rhetoric and so many of its chief concerns: persuasion, democracy, and deliberation. As a result, the Republic is not typically high on the list of Plato’s works consulted in rhetorical studies. With The Rhetoric of Plato’s ‘Republic,’ Kastely will change that. Patient, open-minded, and careful, Kastely finds in the Republic an account of justice as a renewable resource for democracy and of rhetoric as justice’s all too rare and precarious means of replenishment.”
— Debra Hawhee, Pennsylvania State University
“Kastely’s subtle and illuminating reading of the Republic as a work of both political and rhetorical theory explains Plato’s democratic philosophy and its embodiment in the rhetorical practices he depicts. Unlike many studies past and present, this portrait of Plato’s defense of democracy meticulously distinguishes between Plato’s ideas and those advanced by Socrates. From this perspective, Kastely proposes, some of Socrates’s rhetorical failures may be seen as crafted by Plato to exemplify the limitations of elite political and philosophical cultures and their discourses.”
— C. Jan Swearingen, Texas A&M University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Republic: Plato’s Democratic Epic
2. The Elenchic Victory and the Failure of Persuasion
3. Glaucon’s Request for a Persuasive Argument
4. Confronting Obstacles to Persuasion
5. The Limits of Persuasion: The Residual Force of Culture and the Unruliness of Desire
6. The Argument for Philosophy
7. A Rhetorical Account of Philosophy
8. Compelling a Philosopher
9. A Genuinely Persuasive Defense of Justice?
10. The Rhetorical Office of Poetry
11. Philosophical Rhetoric
Notes
Works Cited
Index
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Please have the disability coordinator at your school fill out this form.
The Rhetoric of Plato's Republic: Democracy and the Philosophical Problem of Persuasion
by James L. Kastely
University of Chicago Press, 2015 eISBN: 978-0-226-27876-6 Cloth: 978-0-226-27862-9
Plato isn’t exactly thought of as a champion of democracy, and perhaps even less as an important rhetorical theorist. In this book, James L. Kastely recasts Plato in just these lights, offering a vivid new reading of one of Plato’s most important works: the Republic. At heart, Kastely demonstrates, the Republic is a democratic epic poem and pioneering work in rhetorical theory. Examining issues of justice, communication, persuasion, and audience, he uncovers a seedbed of theoretical ideas that resonate all the way up to our contemporary democratic practices.
As Kastely shows, the Republic begins with two interrelated crises: one rhetorical, one philosophical. In the first, democracy is defended by a discourse of justice, but no one can take this discourse seriously because no one can see—in a world where the powerful dominate the weak—how justice is a value in itself. That value must be found philosophically, but philosophy, as Plato and Socrates understand it, can reach only the very few. In order to reach its larger political audience, it must become rhetoric; it must become a persuasive part of the larger culture—which, at that time, meant epic poetry. Tracing how Plato and Socrates formulate this transformation in the Republic, Kastely isolates a crucial theory of persuasion that is central to how we talk together about justice and organize ourselves according to democratic principles.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
James L. Kastely is professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston. He is the author of Rethinking the Rhetorical Tradition: From Plato to Postmodernism.
REVIEWS
“A startling reinterpretation of Plato, one that stands the standard narrative of the history of rhetoric on its head. Kastely persuasively takes the supposed archenemy of rhetoric and makes of him instead a theorist deeply concerned with rhetoric’s possibilities, and he does so with impeccable scholarship in a tour de force extended rereading of Plato’s most-read work.”
— Jeffrey Walker, University of Texas at Austin
“Plato’s Republic presents a faraway, made-up world, a world too distant from the rough-and-tumble world of rhetoric and so many of its chief concerns: persuasion, democracy, and deliberation. As a result, the Republic is not typically high on the list of Plato’s works consulted in rhetorical studies. With The Rhetoric of Plato’s ‘Republic,’ Kastely will change that. Patient, open-minded, and careful, Kastely finds in the Republic an account of justice as a renewable resource for democracy and of rhetoric as justice’s all too rare and precarious means of replenishment.”
— Debra Hawhee, Pennsylvania State University
“Kastely’s subtle and illuminating reading of the Republic as a work of both political and rhetorical theory explains Plato’s democratic philosophy and its embodiment in the rhetorical practices he depicts. Unlike many studies past and present, this portrait of Plato’s defense of democracy meticulously distinguishes between Plato’s ideas and those advanced by Socrates. From this perspective, Kastely proposes, some of Socrates’s rhetorical failures may be seen as crafted by Plato to exemplify the limitations of elite political and philosophical cultures and their discourses.”
— C. Jan Swearingen, Texas A&M University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. The Republic: Plato’s Democratic Epic
2. The Elenchic Victory and the Failure of Persuasion
3. Glaucon’s Request for a Persuasive Argument
4. Confronting Obstacles to Persuasion
5. The Limits of Persuasion: The Residual Force of Culture and the Unruliness of Desire
6. The Argument for Philosophy
7. A Rhetorical Account of Philosophy
8. Compelling a Philosopher
9. A Genuinely Persuasive Defense of Justice?
10. The Rhetorical Office of Poetry
11. Philosophical Rhetoric
Notes
Works Cited
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who has a disability that prevents you
from using this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the disability coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE