Avarice is rectitudinous?

Or perhaps, simply, greed is good?

After attending Kevin O'Neill's disquisition on classical rhetoric in the age of Aristotle, it was much easier for me to appreciate why Plato and Aristotle wrote so eloquently and precisely on the art of rhetoric. More specifically, it helped that O'Neill began the lecture with historical context on why rhetoric was so important to all the citizens of Greece at that time. Because the city-states of Greece were self-contained and agriculture-based in nature, small communities flourished, while the larger complex central hubs of exchange like Athens were important for the overall growth of the country as a whole. Thus the average citizen (or perhaps I should more pointedly say, average MALE citizen) played a huge role in creating and maintaining the status of the community through dialogues and constructive criticism in the town square – the Facebook news feed of our time. 

Surprisingly, most Athenians could read and write, but their written discourses were burdened by the large sheets of parchment that made up the books of day. It was not so easy to walk around with heavy sheets of paper and so there was a greater emphasis and reliance on speech as the modes of discussion and information. Speech requires shorter, more precise lines of explanation and reasoning, and thus in order to participant in important dialogues like a good citizen, each individual had to be a good orator, well-versed in the languages and styles of rhetoric and persuasion. 

So, when later in class we watched the clip of Gordon Gekko’s “greed is good” speech from Wall Street, it made me think that this character’s dialogue was written in such a way that a man in Aristotle’s time might speak. Regarding the speech that Gekko makes in the movie, his knowledge and understanding – or at least the inspiration – of Aristotle’s ideas of rhetorics are clear. Aristotle “operates through analysis… [replacing] the literary approach with systematic expositions.” Like Aristotle, Gekko also identifies that there should be more than just labor, the concept of the dispensing of energy without employment of body and soul – like the 33 vice presidents who are doing little more than collecting a paycheck – and more of the action and speech that “turns the human body into a instrument of self-expression”, as O’Neill stated in his lecture. Additionally, Gekko speaks in a clear, precise form of delivery. He employs words and phrases that speak to the emotional part of the human condition. He is using forensic rhetoric, as it is a defense of not only his actions, but is attempting to persuade the listeners (the angry stockholders that make up the audience) to change their thinking by speaking to the pathos of each individual. He also makes sure that his presentation is clear, well-spoken and stylized in such a manner that nobody has a difficult time understanding him, or realizing that he is serious about what he is speaking about. He walks through the crowd, amongst the people, in comparison with the president and vice presidents who sit behind the podium, removed from the masses. He is not just a speaker lecturing; he presents himself as a normal individual, somebody just like his listeners.

O’Neill, Kevin. The Origins and Uses of Rhetoric in Classical Athens: Plato, Aristotle, and the Craft of Persuasion. California State University Northridge. Manzanita Hall, Northridge, CA. 8 Feb. 2011. Lecture.