The Philosophical Rhetoric in the Dialogue Phaedrus

Psykhagogía as education model

Authors

  • Micael Rosa Silva
  • Bárbara de Abreu Freitas USP-FEUSP

Keywords:

Education, Speech, Phaedrus, Plato, Psykhagogy, Rhetoric

Abstract

The article delves into the intricate relationship between rhetoric, dialectic, and learning in Plato's dialogue Phaedrus, emphasizing the technique of psykhagogía, meaning "soul-guiding." Plato argues that a true orator must adapt their speech to the type of soul of each interlocutor, using a methodical and reflective approach, combining dialectical and rhetorical elements to foster internal transformation in the soul. Psykhagogía is described as an educational process, where guiding the soul is closely tied to the use of appropriate speeches and a deep understanding of the soul. The article highlights the importance of the internal movement of the soul in attaining knowledge and suggests that Platonic rhetoric is not merely persuasive but also educational, leading interlocutors to truth through a dialectical method.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Bárbara de Abreu Freitas, USP-FEUSP

Professora de Filosofia do Ensino Fundamental I e II no Estado de São Paulo. Possui graduação em Filosofia pela Universidade Federal de São João Del-Rei (2017). É mestre pela FEUSP e doutoranda pela mesma instituição, com foco no pensamento grego antigo e Platão.

References

PLATÃO. Fedro. Tradução do grego, apresentação e notas de Maria Cecília Gomes dos Reis; introdução de James H. Nichols Jr. São Paulo: Penguin Classics Companhia das Letras, 2016.

_________. Fedro. Tradução e organização de Rogério G. de Campos. São Paulo: Hedra, 2018.

_________. Platonis Opera, ed. John Burnet. Oxford University Press. 1903. (Disponível em https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/)

Referência secundária

AESCHYLUS. Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes. 1.Persians. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1926

ARISTOPHANES. Aristophanes Comoediae, ed. F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart, vol. 2. F.W. Hall and W.M. Geldart. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1907.

ASMIS, E. “Psychagogia in Plato’s Phaedrus”. Illinois Classical Estudies. Estados Unidos, v. 11, n. ½, 1986, p. 53-72.

BURNEAT, M. F. “Firt word: a valdictory lectures”. Proceeding of the Cambridge philological Society. Vol. 43. pp,1-20, 1997.

EURIPIDES. Euripides, with an English translation by David Kovacs. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. forthcoming.

FERRARI, F. Listening to the cicadasa: Study of Plato's Phaedrus.Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1987.

ISOCRATES. Isocrates, with an English Translation in three volumes, by George Norlin, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1980.

JÁUREGUI. M. H. “The Meanings of σώιζειν in Alcestis’ Final scene”. TC 2016; 8(2): 205-225.

JOUAN, F. 1981. "L'cvocation des morts dans la tragedie grccquc." RHR 198: 403-21.

KERÉNYI, K. Arquétipos da religião grega. Tradução de Milton Camargo Motta. Editora Vozes, Petrópolis: 2015.

MOSS, J. “Soul-leading: The unity of the phaedrus, again”. In Brad Inwood (ed.), Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy. Oxford University Press. pp. 43--1 (2012).

MUNIS. F. Dividing Plato's Kinds”. Phronesis October 2018, vol 63. 4.

NUSSBAUUM, M. The fragility of goodness: luck and ethics in greek tragedy and philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Ano: 2001.

ODGEN: D. Greek and Roman Necromancy. Princeton university y press, 2001.

___________. Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Source Book. Oxford University Press, 2002

PEIXOTO, M.C. “La psicagogia del Fedro”. In Casertano 2011: 173–206.

PLATÃO. Fedro. Tradução do grego, apresentação e notas de Maria Cecília Gomes dos Reis; introdução de James H. Nichols Jr. São Paulo: Penguin Classics Companhia das Letras, 2016.

PLATO. Platonis Opera, ed. John Burnet. Oxford University Press. 1903.

PROCLO. Plato’s Parmenides. Morrow G, Dellon J. Princeton University, 1980.

Published

2025-04-12

How to Cite

Rosa Silva, M., & de Abreu Freitas, B. (2025). The Philosophical Rhetoric in the Dialogue Phaedrus: Psykhagogía as education model. Estudos De Filosofia E Ensino, 4(1). Retrieved from https://revistas.cefet-rj.br/index.php/estudosdefilosofiaeensino/article/view/738