The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy: Plato's Gorgias and Phaedrus

*The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy*, one of the most groundbreaking works of twentieth-century Platonic studies, is now back in print for a new generation of students and scholars to discover. In this volume, distinguished classicist Seth Benardete interprets and pairs two important Platonic dialogues, the *Gorgias* and the *Phaedrus*, illuminating Socrates' notion of rhetoric and Plato's conception of morality and eros in the human soul. Following his discussion of the *Gorgias* as a dialogue about the rhetoric of morality, Benardete turns to the *Phaedrus* as a discourse about genuine rhetoric, namely the science of eros, or true philosophy. This novel interpretation addresses numerous issues in Plato studies: the relation between the structure of the *Gorgias* and the image of soul/city in the *Republic*, the relation between the structure of *Phaedrus* and the concept of eros, and Socrates' notion of ignorance, among others.