Reading Blog 2

September 5, 2011.
ARCS Ch. 3 and RT, Plato pp. 80-168

The stasis theory is examined in chapter three.  Stasis theory consists of where the rhetor takes a stand; it marks the place where two opposing forces come together and rest on a certain issue.  An agreement to disagree is the main stance of the stasis theory.  I find this very interesting because it is so true.  To truly agree on something, in most cases, it takes many arguments to come to a compromise or understanding.  It seems to me that every argument will end like this because usually compromises are hard to come by.  Abortion is used as an active example throughout this chapter.  The two sides consist of 'abortion is murder,' or 'abortion is not murder.'  Of course there are going to be disagreeing opinions on this issue, especially since it involves the life or death of an unborn child.  It is almost such a controversial issue that there isn't really a standing, no one really agrees to disagree, both sides believe they are right.  There are four questions to analyze to help understand the situation.  These include the conjecture, the definition of the act, the quality or seriousness of the act, and the policy and whether or not it will be submitted for a formal procedure.  When analyzing a rhetorical text with opposing viewpoints, I will use this sequence of questions and the stasis theory to find a conclusion.

Plato:
I found it very interesting that Plato admitted women into his school.  It almost surprises me that since Plato did that, women didn't gain rights until centuries later.  His philosophical achievements were influential enough to influence scholars for years to come.  I admire Plato's philosophy of rhetoric.  He envisioned rhetoric as a discourse that is more analytic, objective and dialectical that delineates the truth behind appearances.  He saw himself as didactic and not manipulative, shaping audiences for the better.  Plato uses dialogs to get his point across.  Gorgias looked at the value of rhetoric while Phaedrus looked at the distinction between knowledge and belief.