Rhetoric

This chapter offers an overview of the evidence for the Epicurean views on the technical status and utility of rhetoric. These views are broadly consistent with the School’s recommendation that the wise minimize engagement in most aspects of civic life. Yet Epicurus himself, and later exponents of his philosophy, clearly utilize techniques and figures derived from rhetorical theory and practice, and Lucretius even chose to communicate Epicurean doctrine through rhetorically enhanced poetry. Since the later Epicurean Philodemus represents the fullest and most detailed source of Epicurean reflection on the subject of rhetoric, particular attention is given to his testimony in On Rhetoric and to the question of how his testimony can be reconciled with the broader doxography on Epicurean attitudes to rhetoric. Philodemus maintains that Epicurus and the Founders of the School recognized one type of rhetoric, epideictic or “sophistic” as Philodemus labels it, as technical and useful. The uncoupling of epideictic rhetoric from the discipline of rhetoric more broadly enabled Philodemus to incorporate prose composition into an Epicurean educational program so that the doctrines of Epicureanism could be disseminated effectively and clearly. Lastly, the chapter reflects briefly on the sort of discursive objectives and practices which appear to be endorsed by Epicureans, despite the School’s reservations about rhetoric’s effectiveness in education and civic life.