Did Plato develop the language of dialogue to supplement existing public discourse with a novel concept of political deliberation? Plato’s critical appraisal of poetry, rhetoric, and sophistry is well-documented, as is his employment of the dialogue form to challenge the social and political relevance of prominent intellectuals such as Gorgias, Prodicus, and Protagoras. However, Plato’s own discursive preference, sometimes labeled dialectic, is rarely taken to matter for his political interests. Commonly identified as the antithesis of eristic discourse or discursive competition, Plato’s political commitments to dialectic – characterized by shared deliberation, joint inquiry, and consensual ideals – are yet to be thoroughly identified and described. The purpose of this symposium is to explore this topic, discuss the difference between eristic and dialectic discourse, to ask why collaborative deliberation is often favored over competitive, and to reinvigorate Plato’s relevance for questions about the nature of public deliberation.
PROGRAM (Preliminary)
Wednesday 15th of April
(Venue: F11)
1000-1115 Claudia Baracchi (Milano-Bicocca): TBA
1115-1215 Olof Pettersson (UU/SH): “The Topic as Tool: Instrumentalization and Competition in Plato’s Gorgias”
Lunch
1400-1500 Kristian Larsen (NTNU): “Nature, the Value of Inquiry, and Politics in Plato’s Statesman”
1500-1600 Hans Ruin (SH): “The Vital Meausure: on Plato’s Heraclitism”
Thursday 16th of April
(Venue: PA238 before lunch & PA239 after)
1000-1115 Albert Joossee (Groningen): TBA
1115-1215 Brandon Jablon (UU): “Reasoning by Likeness: Plato’s Use of Analogy in Gorgias”
Lunch
1300-1400 Oda Tvedt (NTNU): “Power and Persuasion in Democratic Rhetoric”
1400-1500 Pauliina Remes (UU): “Plato’s Crito on Joint Commitment”
1500-1600 Charlotta Weigelt (SH): “Socrates as a Doctor: The Rhetoric of Craft Analogies in the Gorgias”
CONTACT
For more information or if you have any questions, please send an email to olof.pettersson@filosofi.uu.se