First Response

Gorgias' Encomium to Helen is more of a defense than a tribute; however, in defending Helen's actions from her accusers, Gorgias also presents a compelling argument in support of the power of words, emotions, and arguments as suasive devices. In the fictionalized encounter between Socrates and Gorgias in Plato's Gorgias, this suasive power of rhetoric is pitted against philosophy and the search for truth. Taken together these writings pose some serious questions about the nature of truth and the uses and abuses of persuasion. In the space below, respond to these tensions in the assigned writings (in addition feel free to reply to other's responses as well - these writings will structure our class discussion on Thursday). In writing your response, keep in mind what you learned from the first two chapters of Good Reasons about the structure of arguments and how to effectively read and respond to arguments.

Responses should be a minimum of 250 words. Your best bet is to compose the response in a word processing file (Microsoft Word, etc.) and then past it on the wiki when you're done. When pasting, please place your post below the last one posted. Be sure to place your wiki handle after your post(s) for the purpose of identification and place a bar underneath it. Posts must be added before 1 PM on Thursday, January 15.

For example:

This is my post (+246 words)

InferentialKid

W