Rhetoric And Philosophical Struggle And The Ideal Orator "

The purpose of this paper is to interpret the De Oratore of Cicero.I try to attack De Oratore not only from the background of literature studies,but also from the interlocutors and clue of the dialogue laid out by Cicero.In the first place,I hope to grasp the intention of the writer by analyzing the form of the text.Afterwards,I try to rediscover the important position of De Oratore in Cicero's thought,and make out his ideas of rhetoric as the significant part of his political philosophy.The rhetoric tradition was a unique part of western culture.As a learning of studying how to attain the effect of language expression,rhetoric had grown into a branch of academic study early in the ancient Greece.It is important to describe the main subject of the rhetoric from the historical angle of view.But the political particularity of rhetoric makes itself not totally independent of its environment.Rhetoric was developed from the political action.The problem of rhetoric has evolved by the conflict with the sciences such as law,drama,history and philosophy. It is the contravention of value and the importance of verbal techniques which suggest us to put the rhetoric thought of ancient thinkers back to the classical political philosophy.Along this direction,we may discover the dispute between the rhetoric and philosophy,and its significance in the history of thought.The dispute between rhetoric and philosophy did not originate from Cicero.Early in Greek tradition,especially in Plato's dialogue,there had been discussions about this question.Plato laid the dispute in the debate between Socrates and sophists.On the one hand,Plato criticized acutely the defect occult in the political rhetoric of the sophists.On the other hand,he claimed that the genuineτ(?)χνηλ(?)γωνshould preach the virtues and protects justice;even serve the philosophers to pursue the sophia and the holy good.On the basis of that,Plato brought forward the idea of 'philosophical rhetoric,' and the rhetoric thought of Plato becomes the brightest point in the history of Greek rhetoric.Cicero was one of the most important thinkers in the ancient world.He was not only the most famous statesman and orator of the late Roman Republic in practical world,but also the outstanding rhetorician and political philosopher in theoretic practice.Furthermore,Cicero was a great interpreter of Plato.Rooted in the need of political situation of the late Roman Republic,and faced with the Greek philosopher's brilliant views,Cicero put forward his own thought on the base of his political practice and philosophical contemplation,and for the safeguard of the holy cause of the Roman Republic.It is for these reasons that Cicero figured the Ideal Orator in the De Oratore.In the ancient time,and especially in Renaissance,Cicero had always been an eminence for his far-reaching influence.Since the Enlightenment period,with the fall of classical rhetoric, Cicero's rhetoric thought had retreated from the historical center.In the opinions of many modem scholars,Cicero's contribution to the succession of Greek culture and the interpretation of Plato's text was neglected as eclecticism.However,though the originality of Cicero's philosophical thought was oppugned,the eminent position of Cicero's rhetoric thought has never been fluctuated.With the development of modernity,Cicero's abundant rhetoric thought was ossified by the modem rhetorician gradually.This paper chooses De Oratore,the most central book of Cicero's rhetoric theory,as the text to be interpreted,because following the way of classical political philosophy,I hope to comprehend and recover the Republican rhetoric thought of Cicero by meticulous reading.