Retórica e justiça nos diálogos Górgias e Fedro de Platão

Abstract

This paper examines the perceptions of Plato about rhetoric and justice, as well as the relation of these two themes, in the dialogues Gorgias and Phaedrus. Its purpose is to understand how the philosopher’s investigations about the uses of rhetoric diverge or converge in the conversations presented in the two books, with a special light to the possibility (or impossibility) around the just practice of the supposed art of the sophists, politicians and speech makers on the Athenian democracy. The different arguments here studied – originated from books, commentaries and articles about the subject – allow a more detailed study about the Platonic distinction between the rhetoric usually aimed for in the politics of Athens and the one proposed by the philosopher as the true rhetoric (ἡ αληθινή ρητορική), always attached to justice and to the search for the truth. The simultaneous investigation of both dialogues enables a more complete perception of Plato’s answer to the rhetorical phenomenon. The conclusion here defended is that Gorgias and Phaedrus don’t really diverge on the matter, but, actually, complement and reinforce each other on one same perspective.