Published Paper Details:

Plato�s view of rhetoric is both extensive and influential, and it demands considerable philosophical and interpretive challenges. Even a general reading of his dialogue, the Phaedrus demolishes a common assumption that Plato was entirely antagonistic to the practice of rhetoric. In fact, it reveals that Plato�s discussion of rhetoric is both critical as well as constructive. Further, rhetoric, when practiced correctly, paves the way for knowledge. This paper seeks to elucidate such views of Plato on rhetoric in the light of his dialogue the Phaedrus and show how knowledge has to play an important role in it. Furthermore, important insights are also drawn from his other dialogues, such as the Gorgias and the Republic, wherever necessary. The paper has been structured in following three parts � first, it investigates into the meaning of the term �rhetoric�; second, it examines the concept of �rhetoric� and arguments concerning �rhetoric� from the dialogues, namely the Gorgias and the Pheadrus; third and finally, it draws a number of conclusions and observations following the above discussion.