Overview
Epistemology: how do we know what we know?
(Lee "Rhetoric")
These different epistemologies shaped their view of rhetoric. The Sophists and Plato were opposites in their views while Aristotle was somewhere in the middle. Because the Sophists argued that there was no absolute truths, they used rhetoric specifically for persuasion to promote probable truths. Plato argued that their were probable truths, but using rhetoric created false truths by deceiving people and corrupting society. Aristotle did believe that their were truths but they were probable because we wouldn't be able to determine the absolute truths. He did agree with Plato that the Sophists misused rhetoric, but he agreed with the Sophists that that their was a need for rhetoric.
- Sophistic: no absolute truths, everything is contextual (Sophists)
- Platonic: absolute truths exist through noumenal world (Plato)
- Empiricism: truths are rooted in experience (Aristotle)
(Lee "Rhetoric")
These different epistemologies shaped their view of rhetoric. The Sophists and Plato were opposites in their views while Aristotle was somewhere in the middle. Because the Sophists argued that there was no absolute truths, they used rhetoric specifically for persuasion to promote probable truths. Plato argued that their were probable truths, but using rhetoric created false truths by deceiving people and corrupting society. Aristotle did believe that their were truths but they were probable because we wouldn't be able to determine the absolute truths. He did agree with Plato that the Sophists misused rhetoric, but he agreed with the Sophists that that their was a need for rhetoric.