PLATO, SOCRATES, ONG AND MACLUHAN

I think Plato structured his work as a dialogue because this approach would have been the best form of written expression that was similar to rhetoric. His teacher, Socrates, never expressed his teachings through written form. Taking this into consideration, dialogue, although it is a form of writing is the closest thing to rhetoric because people are conversing and expressing themselves as if they were speaking to one another. Through this, he would have been …

…culture. I think he would say that instead of civilizing mankind, it would have made them more un-civilized because they are not acquiring the knowledge through rhetoric instead it is through books. They will not remember what is being said; instead they will use their memories and rely on books and what is being written down. In my opinion, I think Plato would try and reinforce a primary oral culture, instead of the phonetic alphabet.