Rhetorics in Plato’s "Gorgias" and Political Methods in Modern America

Plato’s “Gorgias” is a dialogue that attacks the rhetoric of the politicians in ruling ancient Greece. It uses the voice of the teacher Socrates to express views, and includes the viewpoints and perspectives of Gorgias, Polus, and Callicles as well. Socrates in particular discusses many themes, such as power, rhetoric, and justice with the men. He labels rhetoric as the worst form of flattery, but uses it to persuade his opponents and make them reconsider their viewpoints by asking questions of the logic used by the writers. This idea is entirely relevant in our world today, as the American political system relies on rhetoric heavily. The Democrat and Republican groups pick apart the rhetoric of the other group, as each party tries to discredit and place blame while constantly trying to raise money through funding campaigns and special interest groups. Taking a heavier concentration on the idea of politics, President Trump uses many rhetorical methods that are discussed and can be found in the dialogue.

Socrates gets very involved with Gorgias by discussing the idea of false and true knowledge. Fundamentally, knowledge must be true or else it is not knowledge. In “Gorgias”, Plato writes, “And therefore the rhetorician is not someone who teaches the lawcourts and other crowds about things that are just and unjust, but only someone who’s persuasive, since presumably he wouldn’t be able to teach so big a crowd in so little time about such great matters”. This quote from Socrates is extremely relevant to the political methods of President Trump.

Rhetoric can appeal to the values of the crowd as Socrates discussed in “Gorgias”. Donald Trump uses seditious and provocative language to distract his audience from the credibility of his claims, failing to speak on a basis of truth at times. There are countless examples of President Trump talking down on certain groups of people. For example, President Trump talks down on the country of Mexico in regards to their illegal immigration, labeling the entire country as bad. The President states during his presidential bid, “when do we beat Mexico at the border, they’re laughing at us, at our stupidity, and now their beating us economically they are not our friend believe me, but they are killing us economically. The US has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. They are bringing drugs, they are bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some I assume, are good people but I speak to border guards, and they tell us what we are getting”. This quote by President Trump during his presidential bid is an extremely persuasive type of rhetoric that has the intention of causing the mass audience of people to support his position and take an action that is not fully backed by truth.

From ostracizing different groups and ethnicities, another example is when President Trump stated that he will deny all Muslims from entering our country. This is completely unfair to the entire group of Muslim people, as they are falling under the shadow and being associated with the actions of terrorist groups. President Trump uses this to bolster his position, just because some Muslims follow jihad all Muslims should be considered dangerous.

Attempting to defend his indiscriminate position against Muslims by jumping to conclusions and providing false dilemmas is an example of the president’s use of rhetoric. President Trump delivers opinions and baseless facts and seems unapologetic in his disregard for others. These examples provided show how the ideas and ideas of philosophers are still extremely relevant centuries later.