Volume 2, Issue 2, 2018
Ancient Greek Philosophy: Classical Greek Philosophy
Adam David Roth
Pages 283-288
Embodied Rhetoric: Plato on the Similarities Between Rhetoric and Medicine
By tracing the process through which the stark opposition Plato draws between rhetoric and medicine becomes re-expressed as a similarity between the two, this essay seeks a fuller interpretation of Plato’s attitude toward rhetoric, supplementing the work of scholars who claim that the only evidence Plato gives us about an ideal rhetoric is through its relationship to philosophy and dialectic. This paper shows instead that another way Plato captures the potential of rhetoric as a true art is precisely through its intricate relationship to medicine.