柏拉图论政治修辞

Plato on Political Rhetoric

一般认为,柏拉图对于修辞多有批判。本文首先指出,柏拉图仍肯定修辞(说服)的存在。其次,本文整理柏拉图所批判的当时流行的修辞术,并名之为"政客修辞"。再次,本文亦归纳柏拉图的理想修辞观,称之为"辩证式修辞"。为了进一步具体论述辩证式修辞,本文说明了辩证式修辞在现实政治中可以呈现的样貌。最后,本文指出,"辩证式修辞"对于当代民主政体中的政治修辞仍有可供借鉴之处。

Generally, Plato was regarded as being hostile to rhetoric. However, I will show that in Plato’s some important political dialogues he still verifies the significance of rhetoric or persuasion. Then, I list the attacks of Plato on his contemporary rhetoric, which is called in the essay as 'politician rhetoric'. On the other hand, Plato also articulates the characteristics of true rhetoric, which I name as 'dialectical rhetoric.' In order to elaborate 'dialectical rhetoric', I take Pericles as an example to show how the dialectic rhetoric could work in the real political world. Finally, I point out that dialectical rhetoric still can give some reflection for today’s political rhetoric. It contains the ideal of the good, caring the soul of the audience, speaking the truth, insisting the right thing with reason, etc.