Plutarch's Argumentative Strategy
This chapter discusses two types of argument which Plutarch consistently employed in the Adversus Colotem. Through the vindication arguments Plutarch shows why the philosophers attacked by Colotes do not make life impossible to live and in so doing he highlights Colotes' ignorance and his misinterpretations of the philosophy of the past. Through the overturning arguments Plutarch turns the tables upon his opponent and argues that Colotes' accusations against the other philosophers are, in fact, applicable to Colotes himself and the philosophical system he endorses. The overturning argument is a standard argumentative technique in ancient rhetorical and philosophical debates and Plutarch uses it creatively in order to embark on a general critique against Epicurean philosophy as a whole.
Keywords: argumentative technique, overturning arguments, types of argument, vindication arguments
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