Even though Aristotle agreed with Plato on a number of ideas, they disagreed on a variety of significant philosophical and practical concepts. One of these was the best form for civic rhetoric. Plato argues in the Gorgias that rhetoric is not an effective method of communication, particularly when it is compared to the dialectic. Aristotle, in contrast, believed that persuasive rhetoric was much more effective to establish, maintain and promote civic discourse.
Plato sets forth his criticism of rhetoric in a Socratic dialogue called Gorgias. In this dialogue he criticizes the rhetorical and political powers of the Sophists in the Greek city-state. Plato argues that it is only the dialectic that allows man to gravitate toward a higher understanding of Ideas and Forms. In Gorgias, he argues that politics so hits upon the care of the soul that citizens can find virtue and happiness only in an Ideal State (Plato, 1997, 802). Therefore, Plato believes the road to truth can only be accessed by the dialectic dialogue, the kind of direct confrontation that occurs among Socrates, Gorgias and Calicles.
In Gorgias, Socrates is willing ôto have a discussionö, thus maintaining that he will not hear a discourse such as that typically given by the Sophists like Gorgias (Plato, 1997, 793). Gorgias is knowledgeable only in the ôcraft of oratoryö, which Socrates thinks is not really a craft at all but a ôlong style of speechmakingö that offers little insight into an issue or a problem and certainly makes little provision for discussion (Plato, 1997, 795). Socrates uses the question and answer method now called Socratic dialogue to provoke his opponent into specificity instead of empty phrases and imagery.
When Gorgias cannot give a name to what oratory is or does, Socrates makes his first and most significant point: if a ôcraftö is only to talk about other crafts that have a measurable product, it must be integral to those ot...