TOWARDS PEACE
On Rhetoric
It is concluded that rhetoric has no value in the walk towards peace, if it does not coincide with the dialectic. In effect, rhetoric is an instrument of life, and life is the end of rhetoric. Now, what is, oh Socrates, life? I would ask. It should be stressed that I do not say "which is life" but "what is". What does it mean for you and me that we talk? What is the point of life? I know well what you will answer me, arguing in speech: "What is this life, oh my dear Carlo, of which you want me to tell you what it is?". Then I will tell you: "Precisely what you and Plato in the Republic consider superior life: hic Rhodus, hic salta [Prove what you can do, here and now.]". Here, I believe, my dear, you would fall silent - through Hades - the last remedy that truly brings a good end, the one you used then in prison. But I, and with me the divine Hegesias, the Persuader of death, we will act as a benevolent chorus of this last admonition of yours, saying that life has no other purpose than life itself.
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| Socrates was Michelstaedter's personal idol. He is constantly referenced in his short writings, referenced as a "persuaso [persuaded person]" and Michelstaedter even wrote several dialogues in the Socratic tradition. |
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