Gorgias on arrangement: A search for pragmatism amidst the art and epistemology of Gorgias of Leontini

Abstract

Prior research has focused on Gorgias of Leontini's epistemology and his stylistic/artistic uses of language; while little attention has been paid to the pragmatics of his speech making. An analysis of the Gorgianic corpus reveals that throughout each level of his discourse, Gorgias displayed what appears to be a discernible theory of rhetorical arrangement. The four basic speech parts (introduction, narration, argument and conclusion) are apparent in his speeches, and in addition to generating this quantitative theory of arrangement, it can be shown that Gorgias’ arguments were almost identical in their logical presentation of the claims supported.