Abstract

DECOCK, P.B.. Origen and Augustine: Rooted in the Socratic tradition of philosophical rhetoric. Acta theol. [online]. 2024, vol.44, suppl.37, pp.263-277. ISSN 2309-9089.  https://doi.org/10.38140/at.vi.8246.

The article surveys a number of common elements between Augustine and Origen that shed light on the existence of a Christian form of philosophical rhetoric with roots in Plato. The article briefly presents Socrates' approach to this form of rhetoric in the Phaedrus dialogue, a rhetoric that aims at teaching truth, unlike the other forms of rhetoric, and focuses on the true nature of the soul, its present condition, and the journey towards true happiness. Socrates calls it a form of ψυχαγωγία, guidance for the soul. A brief survey of Philo's use of ψυχαγωγία/ψυχαγωγέω in his comments on Moses illustrates how the Socratic form of rhetoric has been appropriated in some currents of Hellenistic Judaism, which could have been one of the sources for the development of the Christian form of philosophical rhetoric in Origen and Augustine.

Keywords : Philosophical rhetoric; Psychagogia; Platonism; Philo.

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