Deck 12: Rhetoric and Ancient Greek Philosophy

Question 1

One of two Greek terms for time, but more specifically describing an opportune moment, or the truth appropriate to the moment that arises out of a clash of arguments.

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

A Greek phrase that is translated "clashing arguments," and that was important to the Sophists style of teaching rhetoric and to their ideas about truth.

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Greek term for an art or a discipline having its own objects of study and producing a good outcome, like medicine or navigating a boat. Plato claimed rhetoric did not belong in this category, while sophists claimed it did.

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

A pair of closely related terms, one of which refers to public opinion and the other which refers to something most people or the wisest people believe.

Question 5

Provide definitions for each term in this pair: nomos/physis.

Question 6

Identify the famous Sophist who maintained a special interest in the potentially hypnotic sounds of words, and who authored the Encomium on Helen. What did he mean when calling himself a psychagogos?

Question 7

Who was the native Athenian rhetorician who advocated pan-Hellenism? What is pan-Hellenism?

Question 8

What intriguing definition did Richard Lanham apply to rhetoric?

Question 9

At the center of Cicero's rhetorical theory was an individual he referred to as the perfectus orator. It looks like the term should mean "the perfect orator," but this translation does not really describe the concept. Briefly, what characterized the perfectus orator?

Question 10

One system for discovering or inventing arguments in ancient Rome divided a judicial case up into two sets of "attributes." One of these sets was "attributes of the person." What was the other set of attributes in this system?

Question 11

Cicero described five principles of canons of rhetoric. What was the goal of the canon he termed inventio?

Question 12

Cicero wrote two major works on rhetoric. One was written when he was just 19, and is titled, De Inventione. What is the title of his other major work on rhetoric? We read an excerpt from this book for class.

Question 13

Leaders in Rome accepted the idea of the res publica. To what entity did this term refer?

Question 14

Cicero was best known for advocating the uniting of two qualities in oratory. What are these two qualities?

Question 15

Augustine's Christian followers objected to rhetoric because of its pagan roots. Augustine, trained in rhetoric, had a different view. Briefly, what was his view?

Question 16

Who was the most famous teacher of rhetoric in the era of the Roman empire? b. What was the goal of his rhetorical training-what kind of individual was he trying to produce?

Question 17

Who was the author of the Oration on the Dignity of Man?

Question 18

Augustine discussed two modes or methods by which the Christian preacher applied rhetoric to scripture. One he termed the modus inveniendi, or the activity of seeking the true meaning of scripture. The other was the modus proferendi. What does this second activity involve?

Question 19

Italian humanists incorporated the concepts of the vita activa and classicism. Briefly define each concept.

Question 20

What collection of written texts, influential in the Renaissance, elevated a view of magic that was supposed to have originated with an ancient magician (and god of rhetoric), Hermes Trismegistus?

Question 21

We noted several ways in which science might be understood as rhetorical. Identify any two of these.

Question 22

With what rhetorical form is Catherine of Sienna's name most closely associated?

Question 23

What famed late-medieval figure, author of The City of the Ladies, is perhaps the first woman to make her living from writing?

Question 24

Identify and briefly define any two qualities that characterize the type of discourse known as rhetoric as described in Chapter One (for example, rhetorical deals with contingent issues-so don't use that one).

Question 25

Why was Gorgias so interested in the sounds of words? b. How is this interest related to his referring to himself as a psychagogos, and what does he seem to mean by the term? c. Of the various rhetorical traditions we have identified in class, to which does he belong?

Question 26

The terms nomos and physis refer to two theories of where law or justice originates. Briefly, what do these two terms mean, and how do they reflect two different views of law?

Question 27

What did the term techne mean to the Greeks? b. and c. Identify any two qualities of a techne that we discussed in class. In other words, what criteria did a practice or activity have to satisfy in order to be considered a techne?

Question 28

Aristotle said that ethos consisted of three component parts, one of which was areté or virtue. The other two were phronesis and eunoia. a. What did Aristotle mean by ethos? b. What did he mean by phronesis? c. What did he mean by eunoia?

Question 29

Some Sophists agreed with Aristotle that rhetoric started from endoxa. What is meant by endoxa?

Question 30

What is Panhellenism? With which teacher of rhetoric in Athens is the idea associated?

Question 31

Who was Aspasia?

Question 32

What ancient Sophist does Michael Billig hold up to his readers as an example? b. What quality in this Sophist's theory does Billig particularly admire?

Question 33

Chapter 1 overviews several definitions of rhetoric from various theorists. Provide the definition of rhetoric advanced by any two of the following writers: Wayne Booth, James J. Murphy, Richard Lanham, George Kennedy. Be sure to include the theorist's name in your answer.

Question 34

What was isegoria to the Athenians?

Question 35

What process did the term aporia refer to? How was it part of a method of thinking through a question?