For Plato's Socrates, there are true arts that are concerned with the health of the body and the soul, but there are also imitations that claim to help the body and soul but cannot succeed. The imitations, or counterfeits, only allow people to think they have achieved health, but not to get one to have full possession of their mental and physical health—a health that would direct their power to promoting justice. Here, it is his claim that rhetoricians do not know or convey knowledge, and thus that it is not an art or craft (techné) but a mere knack (empeiria, or experience).  For Socrates, the true forms of caring are arts aiming at the good while the false arts, or knacks are aiming at pleasure.

Based on Platos distinction between knacks and true arts, is there is a place for either or both in public deliberation/speech today?

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Platos distinction between true arts and knacks carries implications for contemporary public deliber... View the full answer