2018 - 2019

0662-1292-01
  Rhetoric and Ethics: Three Humanistic Orations                                                       
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
Prof. Shai FrogelGilman-humanities326Wed1200-1400 Sem  1
 
 
University credit hours:  2.0

Course description

The connection between rhetoric and ethics is expressed well in Cicero's aim of rhetorical education: "A good man who speaks well". Yet, even before Cicero, Socrates struggled for good rhetoric that its aim is the ethical improvement of individuals and society. We will discuss Socrates' rhetorical and ethical view by reading Plato's "The apology of Socrates." The second oration will be "Oration on the dignity of man" by Pico della Mirandola. This oration considered to be the manifest of renaissance humanism and reflects the humanists' affinity to Cicero. Our last oration will be Jean-Paul Sartres' "Existentialism is humanism" in which he argues that existentialism also belongs to this humanistic legacy.  By discussing these three orations, we will identify the main characters of humanistic rhetoric and especially the linkage it creates between rhetoric and ethics.

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