English 105H. The Rhetorical Ideal of Life

The purpose of this course is to explore what Richard Lanham calls the "rhetorical ideal of life," and to contrast it with its rival, the "philosophical" or "serious" ideal of life. Stated another way, the objective is to explore what Plato identifies as the "ancient quarrel" between rhetoric and philosophy, a quarrel that has persisted in Western culture from the Greeks to the present day. To achieve this end, we will examine the ways in which the quarrel between them has informed and structured debates about the nature of knowledge, value and art.

In the first five weeks of the course we focus on questions of knowledge, examining how rhetorical and philosophical thinkers characterize knowledge, truth and language. We find that serious "philosophers" tend to see knowledge as the apprehension of context?invariant truths, the nature of which may communicated to others in a transparent language. Rhetorical thinkers, in contrast, see language as a family of "games" played by situated, contingent individuals; they depict knowledge as fabricated within those games; and they see "truth" as a term of praise or endorsement with which communities or audiences honor persuasive assertions. We examine the way these rival views are articulated in Gorgias' Palamedes and Plato's Apology; and we read recent essays concerning the nature of knowledge by Kuhn, Lanham, Fish, and Searle.

In the second part of the course, we examine the way rhetorical and philosophical thinkers tend to see ethical issues such as the nature of virtue, goodness, and justice. We begin with Plato's Gorgias, in which Plato presents Socrates conversing with Gorgias and his two students Polus and Callicles about rhetoric, philosophy, and the "good life." We examine Socrates' affirmation of universal moral laws, Callicles' egoistic contention that the highest good is the gratification of individual desires, and Gorgias' communitarian notion that individuals govern their behavior in respect to honor and shame, attending to judgments made by other situated individuals in the community. We then read a recent version of this debate, focusing on the controversy over discrimination and affirmative action. We read essays by Fish, Spickard, Conniff, and Drinan.

In the third part of the course, we examine the quarrel between rhetoricians and philosophers about the nature of art. We first read the Ion, in which Plato depicts the poet as being "inspired" by the muses, and in turn inspiring a rhapsodic interpreter and ultimately an audience. We then read the Art of Poetry, in which Horace depicts the poet as a rhetorician who draws on the texts and strategies of other authors in order to please, teach and move his or her audience. We then discuss a more recent articulation of this controversy, reading essays by Shelly and Fish.

Syllabus

Part One. Rhetoric, Philosophy and knowledge (5 weeks) The ancient quarrel between rhetoric and philosophy. The nature of language, knowledge and truth.

1. Gorgias, Palamedes
2. Plato, Apology
3. Fish, "Rhetoric"; Lanham, "The Rhetorical Ideal of Life"
4. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (selections)
5. Searle, "Rationality and Realism" Out-of-class paper 1
In-class paper 1

Part two. Morality.

Competing views about the nature of morality, the "good life," and justice.

7. Gorgias, Helen
8-9. Plato Gorgias
10. Fish, "You can only fight discrimination with discrimination";
Conniff, "Racism 101";
Drinan, "Another Look At Affirmative Action." Out-of-class paper 2
In-class paper 2

Part three: Art.

Art as inspiration and communication. The nature of the artist, the work of art, and the audience.

12. Plato, Ion
13. Horace, Art of Poetry
14. Shelley, Defense of Poetry
15. Fish, "Is There a Text in this class?"
Paper 3
In-class paper 3

Required Texts:
Course Packet:

Plato, Gorgias
Gorgias, Palamedes;
Plato, Apology
Lanham, Richard. "The Rhetorical Ideal of Life."
Fish, Stanley. "Rhetoric."
Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (selections)
Searle, John. "Rationality and Realism." Gorgias. Helen.
Fish, Stanley. "Reverse Racism"; "You Can Only Fight Discrimination With Discrimination."
Spickard, Paul. "Why I Believe in Affirmative Action."
Conniff, Ruth. "Racism
Drinan, Robert. "Another Look At Affirmative Action."
Plato. Ion. Horace. The Art of Poetry.
Shelley, Percy. A Defense of Poetry.
Fish, Stanley. "Is there a text in this class?"