Resumen

GONZALEZ, Catalina. The stoical eloquence and the ciceronian persuasion: truthful discourse vs. plausible discourse. EPISTEME [online]. 2011, vol.31, n.2, pp.171-191. ISSN 0798-4324.

In De Oratore and other works, Cicero criticizes the rhetoric of the stoics. He claims that their eloquence is “obscure, dry and excessively brief” (De Oratore, II,159 y III, 65-66) and their treatises on rhetoric are more useful to “learn how to be silent” than to learn how to speak persuasively (De Finibus, IV, 7). What did the stoics say about rhetoric so that Cicero holds their precepts in such low esteem? In this paper I attempt to clarify the psychological and epistemological presupposition that underlie the Stoic conception of rhetoric, in order to compare them with those behind Ciceronian rhetoric. In my opinion, rather than a controversy on matters of style, the dispute concerns the validity of a conviction gained through means other than rational or logical argument (i.e., the arousal of passions). Such conviction is undesirable for the stoics; for Cicero, it is rather necessary and convenient.

Palabras clave : Cicero; stoicism; rhetoric.

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