Exhortations to philosophy : the protreptics of Plato, Isocrates, and Aristotle / James Henderson Collins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collins, James Henderson, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rhetoric, Ancient.

Exhortation (Rhetoric).

Plato.

Isocrates.

Aristotle.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (315 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 4th century bce Athens, the first professional philosophers developed different strategies to market their respective disciplines. Using different genres and discourses, they forged the emerging genre of the 'protreptic'. Simply put, protreptic discourses use a 'rhetoric of conversion' that urges a young person to adopt a specific philosophy among many in order to live a truly good life. Collins argues that the Plato, Isocrates, and Aristotle used protreptic discourse to market philosophical practices and to define and legitimise a new cultural institution: the school of higher learning.

Contents:

Introduction

Part one: Platonic protreptic. Levels of discourse in Plato's dialogues ; Narrative between Socrates and Crito ; From narrative to drama: inside the intradiegetic level ; Return to the extradiegetic level: metalepsis ; Creating consumers and consensus in the Protagoras

Part two: Isocratean Protreptic. "Professional" protreptic: Against the Sophists ; Paraenetic protreptic: Tà àpxaĩa and exhorting young tyrants ; Judging protreptic: Antidosis, Panathenaicus

Epilogue: Aristotelian protreptic and a stabilized genre.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed February 13, 2015).

ISBN:

0-19-026654-6

0-19-935861-3

0-19-935860-5

OCLC:

922973158