The Phaedrus of Plato: With English Notes and Dissertations (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Phaedrus of Plato: With English Notes and Dissertations We may add to these reasons the not unimportant one, that Aristotle seems to have taken a view of this dialogue similar to 1113; which we have adopted. His three books of Rhetoric are, in effect, an expanded Phaedrus. He accepts Plato's views of the subordinate relation of Rhetoric to Dialectic, and of the necessity of a thorough dialectical training to the future orator. He accepts also the view that he who would work effectually on mankind must first acquaint himself with human nature, with the Springs of action and the varieties of character, so as to know by what arguments such and such classes of men are most easily swayed and he agrees with Plato in condemning as unscientific the re'xvat or Arts of Rhetoric which existed in great numbers in his time. Like Plato too, he regards rhetorical figures and the arts of style (ete'vreta Aéywv) which composed the body of the popular treatises, as mere accessories to a philosophical theory of Rhetoric, not as essential or integral parts of the science. His second book is, in great part, but a working out of the three precepts laid down in the Phaedrus 4. Any one, says Plato, who really means to give us an Art of Rhetoric worthy of the name, must first accurately describe the human soul: telling us whether it is one and uniform, or whether it admits of as many varieties as the body. Secondly, he must tell us how the different parts of the soul act, also how they are affected, and by what agencies. T hirdly, he must be able to classify the different kinds of arguments, as well as the different modifications of soul, and the affections of which these are susceptible, and then fit the several arguments to the several mental constitutions, and show why such and such souls are necessarily wrought upon by such and such discourses. With these three conditions of a te'txi/n pfiroptaristotle faithfully complies. His first book contains a classification (storming) of the different m'o-retq or modes of producing persuasion; his second embraces (1) a careful analysis of the aafifiuam - the affections of which human nature is susceptible, and also of the causes by which such affections are called forth; (2) a descriptive catalogue of the various modifications of human character, and the sort of arguments adapted to each 5. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.