Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1998 Dialogue Between Confucius and Socrates: Norms of Rhetorical Constructs in Their Dialogical Form and Dialogic Imagination. Bin Xie Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Xie, Bin, "Dialogue Between Confucius and Socrates: Norms of Rhetorical Constructs in Their Dialogical Form and Dialogic Imagination." (1998). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6717. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6717 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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DIALOGUE BETWEEN CONFUCIUS AND SOCRATES - NORMS OF RHETORICAL CONSTRUCTS IN THEIR DIALOGICAL FORM AND DIALOGIC IMAGINATION A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Bin Xie B.A., Jiangsu Teachers College, 1982 M.A., Soochow University, 1989 May 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9836918 Copyright 1998 by Xie, Bin All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9836918 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Vo my mother, e . X u Xhenyu, whose pou/er o^ ora lity, though not accompanied by that o^ literacy, has much sharpened my sensitivity to human dialog, ue ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................v Abstract....................................................................................................................vii Introduction................................................................................................................1 N otes.........................................................................................................18 Chapter One: A Voice of Credibility in Confucian and Socratic Dialogues...................................................................... 21 I. A Brief Review...................................................................................... 21 II. A Voice of Credibility in Confucius’s Ethics, Naming, Rites, and Word................................................................................... 27 IH. Socrates’s Establishment of Good, Names and True Rhetoric 41 IV. Yan/ True Rhetoric versus De/Good: Dialogue between Confucius and Socrates....................................................................... 57 N otes...................................................................................................... 65 Chapter Two: A Proto-scientific Attitude in Confucius’s and Socrates’s Dialogues................................................................. 70 I. A Brief Review .................................................................................. 71 II. Toward Knowledge: Confucius’s Theoretical Claims and Rhetorical Practice............................................................................. 78 III. Socrates’s Ethical Science, Elenctic Method and Craft Knowledge................................................................................. 95 IV. Confucius’s and Socrates’s Dialogical Practice, Scientific Method and Technical Communication....................... I l l N otes.................................................................................................... 119 Chapter Three: Dialogized Tragic Consciousness in Confucian and Socratic Dialogues.................................................................. 124 I. A Brief Review....................................................................................124 II. You and Hum All His Life: Confucius’s Tragic Consciousness ......................................................................................128 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. m . Socrates: A Tragic Hero in His Defense, Exploration and Execution ............................................................................................. 141 IV. Dialogue between Confucius’s and Socrates’s Tragic Consciousness.......................................................................................151 N otes...................................................................................................... 159 Chapter Four: The Use of Irony in Confucian and Socratic Dialogues.................................................................... 164 I. A Brief Review.................................................................................. 165 II. The Confucian Irony in Dialogue....................................................... 171 EH. The Use of Irony in Socratic Dialogue............................................. 191 IV. A Comparative Study of Confucius’s and Socrates’s Ironic Representation..................................................................................... 206 N otes..................................................................................................... 213 Conclusion............................................................................................................219 N otes.................................................................................................... 232 Bibliography........................................................................................................ 234 V ita....................................................................................................................... 256 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgments The completion of the present dissertation gives me an opportunity to express my appreciation to those who have helped me over the years. First of all, I feel extremely honored to have Dr. James V. Catano as my mentor and committee chair. Generous, patient, but always demanding, he has programmed and supervised my graduate study from the very beginning to the end. Moreover, he is always the first and also the last judge of every piece of my dissertation writing. Without his help, I would not have been able to complete this work. Other scholars, Dr. John B. Henderson, Dr. Malcolm II Richardson and Dr. Harold D. Mixon have also played formative roles in the development of this dissertation. Dr. Henderson’s profound knowledge in Confucianism and Eastern Civilization, his helpful criticism on three earlier drafts of this dissertation have facilitate my intercultural research. I have continued to benefit from Dr. Richardson’s theoretical guidance in scientific rhetoric, and his insightful and detailed comments on my writing. The graduate course, Theories o f Technical Writing, which he offered in 1994, has provided me access to the field of scientific and technical communication. I am also indebted to Dr. Mixon for his critical insights on the Socratic dialogues. His graduate seminar on Greek rhetoric, which I took in 1995, greatly broadened my vision of Western rhetorical studies. My thanks also go to Dr. Stuart A. Irvine, who