John Poulakos (born 1948) has worked in the field of rhetoric as a professor and author, contributing to the study of classical rhetoric.

Biography

Poulakos received his MA from

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

, San Jose in 1972 with a thesis "Toward an existential theory of dialogue". PhD in Communications from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1979 with a thesis "Gorgias on rhetoric". Poulakos moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is currently the associate professor of Communication and Rhetoric at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

Academic work

At Pittsburgh, Poulakos specializes in classical rhetorical theory, philosophy and rhetoric, and history of rhetoric. His publications have promoted the work and importance of the

Sophist A sophist ( el, σοφιστής, sophistes) was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught ' ...

s in Ancient Greece, who were often overlooked due to Plato's harsh criticism. In 1996, Poulakos was given the Everett Lee Hunt Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric, along with the Winans/Wichelns Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric.

Main themes

Poulakos says that sophistry, as a rhetorical era, has been bogged down by philosophers like Plato, and deserves more respect and contemporary appreciation.Poulakos, John. "Toward a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric." Philosophy & Rhetoric: Penn State University Press 16.1 (1983): 35-48. Print. Poulakos' main concern is that the importance in sophistic discourse can be broken down into five different points: rhetoric is an art, style can be used as personal expression,

kairos Kairos ( grc, καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning 'the right, critical, or opportune moment'. In modern Greek, ''kairos'' also means 'weather' or 'time'. It is one of two words that the ancient Greeks had for 'time'; the other bei ...

, which is the opportune moment, to prepon, also known as the appropriate moment, and to dynaton, meaning "the possible." Sophistry has influenced three modern rhetorical practices: the logic of circumstances, the ethic of competition, and the aesthetic of exhibition.Poulakos, John. Sophistical Rhetoric in Classical Greece. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1995. Print.

Published books

*''Possibility of Rhetoric's Early Beginnings: : the Van Zelst Lecture in communication, May 14, 1991'' (1991) *''Sophistical Rhetoric in Classical Greece'' (1997) According to

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

, the book is held in 951 libraries WorldCat author listing
/ref> *''Classical Rhetorical Theory'' (1999) Co-writer with Takis Poulakos According to

, the book is held in 102 libraries *''Classical Rhetorics and Rhetoricians:: critical studies and sources'', ed. M Balif & MG Moran (2005) Wrote section on

Gorgias Gorgias (; grc-gre, Γοργίας; 483–375 BC) was an ancient Greek sophist, pre-Socratic philosopher, and rhetorician who was a native of Leontinoi in Sicily. Along with Protagoras, he forms the first generation of Sophists. Several doxogr ...

References

External links

Official biography at the University of Pittsburgh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poulakos, John Living people American rhetoricians University of Pennsylvania faculty San Jose State University alumni University of Kansas alumni 1948 births