Abstract

This article exposes some Gorgianic remarks on rhetoric in order to counterbalance the view of rhetoric presented by John Bender and David Wellbery in their five historical theses on the contemporary revival of this art and its weakening in Modernity. After a brief introduction to the subject (I), I explain the theses of the authors, the concept of
rhetoricality and their conception of classical rhetoric (II). Then I analyze some aspects of
Greek rhetoric (III) and three theses of Gorgias that counterbalance the authors’ conception: a) the generic indeterminacy of rhetoric, b) the instantiation of speech over truth/knowledge, c) and its application in nontechnical and non-institutionalized contexts (IV). My conclusion is that Gorgias is much closer to a situation of “rhetoricality” than the authors presume.

Keywords: Rhetoric, Rhetoricality, John Bender and David Wellbery, Gorgias.