Home – Home – Jornals – "Philosophy of Education" 2023 number 3

Introduction. Students’ perception of the world and the successful interpretation of it in writing build self-esteem and a more positive opinion of their writing efforts. In the writing classroom ethical concerns may add a personal sense of purpose absent from many other disciplines. Confucian and Platonic dialogues may become valuable sources for rhetorical exploration with the emerging awareness of secondary orality as rhetoric is a complex system of ideas, values, psychology, language and technique of which truthfulness is fundamental. Methodology. A comparative analysis of the rhetorical approaches of Plato and Confucius in their writings on rhetoric, truth, and ethics is used as a methodological framework to broaden the understanding of the rhetoric of writing. Discussion. The purpose of the research was to explore how Confucius and Plato view rhetoric, and how these views inform and complicate our understanding of the ethical dimension of rhetoric and writing. Modern textbooks spend a great deal of time on strategies and exercises to help students improve various techniques that are often seen as separate entities. Issues of truth, ethics, and values are problematic for teachers of the culturally diverse student body of most colleges and universities. Introducing writing instruction based on the rhetorical approaches of Plato and Confucius has the potential to help students improve their critical skills as well as their writing skills. Conclusion. Comparing the rhetorical approaches of Plato and Confucius in their writings on rhetoric, truth and ethics offers educators valuable lessons and insights into the importance of maintaining the ethical dimension of written discourse when teaching writing. Writing should be presented as a complex system of skills, ideology, and psychology, and students who gain insight into this system will have a more accurate and truthful understanding of what writing should be and is.