The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy, one of the\nmost groundbreaking works of twentieth-century Platonic studies, is\nnow back in print for a new generation of students and scholars to\ndiscover. In this volume, distinguished classicist Seth Benardete\ninterprets and pairs two important Platonic dialogues, the Gorgias\nand the Phaedrus, illuminating Socrates’ notion of rhetoric and\nPlato’s conception of morality and eros in the human soul.

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Following his discussion of the Gorgias as a dialogue about the\nrhetoric of morality, Benardete turns to the Phaedrus as a\ndiscourse about genuine rhetoric, namely the science of eros, or\ntrue philosophy. This novel interpretation addresses numerous\nissues in Plato studies: the relation between the structure of the\nGorgias and the image of soul/city in the Republic, the relation\nbetween the structure of Phaedrus and the concept of eros, and\nSocrates’ notion of ignorance, among others.

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