Socrates is not using dialectic to understand rhetoric, he is using it to destroy it, or at least to bring it into disrepute, and so his questions are not real questions at all... they are just word-traps which Gorgias and his fellow rhetoricians fall into.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Socrates used dialectic not to understand rhetoric but to undermine it, trapping rhetoricians with clever questions.
- In plain terms
- Socrates used questions to expose the flaws of rhetoric.
- What can you take from it?
- Question rhetoric to reveal its weaknesses.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is questioning ethical?
- How can you use dialectic constructively?
Another view
Not all rhetoric is deceptive; some is constructive.
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