[Air-L] history of Plato's Phaedrus as example of moral / media panic?

[Nathanael Bassett]

Neil Postman uses Phaedrus to start off his critique of technology in Technopoly (1992). not sure if he got the idea from elsewhere though. 

Nathanael Bassett 
(sent via iPad)

> On Apr 24, 2019, at 12:02 PM, Jason Archer <jarche2 at uic.edu> wrote:
> 
> Dear Dr. Ess,
> 
> The trope might stem from Nehamas and Woodruff's 1995 translation of
> Phaedrus which includes a discussion in the introduction about interpreting
> the section as "concerning the trustworthiness of a new and not yet
> understood mode of communication in comparison to that of an accepted
> medium" p. xxxvi. But that is only conjecture.
> 
> Take care,
> 
> Jason
> 
> 
>> On Wed, Apr 24, 2019 at 11:53 AM Thomas Ball <xtc283 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Dr Ess-
>>   This is a challenging query. One thing that might help orient potential
>> respondents would be for you to cite one or two articles exemplifying
>> "moral / media panics that
>> consistently invoke Plato's _myth_ of the invention of writing."
>>   As it is, we're left guessing what you have in mind.
>> Thank you,
>> Best regards,
>> Thomas
>> 
>> On Wed, Apr 24, 2019 at 12:37 PM Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess at media.uio.no>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Dear AoIRists,
>>> 
>>> Please be kind and patient with me, recalling that my formal academic
>>> training was in history of philosophy, German literature, and ancient
>>> Greek.  I am comparatively still a little wet around the ears with
>>> regard to media and communication studies - or so it seems in this
>>> instance.
>>> 
>>> I keep encountering discussions of moral / media panics that
>>> consistently invoke Plato's _myth_ of the invention of writing.
>>> 
>>> This seemingly standard invocation puzzles me greatly for a long list of
>>> reasons.  I include a short list below for anyone with time and interest
>>> in looking them over.
>>> 
>>> The upshot is that I'm left wondering: who - and when - introduced what
>>> has apparently become received tradition in these domains that the
>>> mythos (see "2" below) of the invention of writing in the Phaedrus is a
>>> prime or supportive example moral or media panic?
>>> 
>>> This is, as they say in administration-speak, an appreciative inquiry.
>>> I'm genuinely curious for the sake of better understanding how this
>>> trope first appeared, etc - as well as genuine worried that I may have
>>> somehow missed something that is considered elementary and obvious for
>>> those of you with academic training more directly within media and
>>> communication studies.
>>> 
>>> Many thanks in advance for any enlightenment and eludation!
>>> best,
>>> - charles ess
>>> 
>>> PS: The short list includes:
>>> 1) the account is taken (bloody and screaming) out of the context of the
>>> larger dialogue in the Phaedrus. When read within the larger context -
>>> beginning with (the young) Phaedrus' effort to impress (perhaps seduce)
>>> Socrates by memorizing a speech he has copied down on a scroll and
>>> initially tries to hide from Socrates - the mythos works much more
>>> immediately as a lightly veiled (and hence, pedagogically speaking,
>>> likely more successful) chastisement of Phaedrus' efforts at
>>> dissimulation.  By no means a wholesale critique of writing per se.
>>> 2) The account is explicitly delivered as a _mythos_ - too easily
>>> translated as a "myth." But: a _mythos_ in Plato is a technical /
>>> philosophical form, going well beyond and in some ways directly
>>> contradicting more everyday notions of "myth" as a false story; a mythos
>>> is specifically an _oral_ story, with its own set of distinctive
>>> strengths and limitations. It is often used in Plato when interlocutors,
>>> attempting to pursue a reasoned argument (logos), come to an impass.
>>> The relation between mythos and logos is hence often complementary, not
>>> contradictory.
>>> 3) It would seem very odd for an author of multiple dialogues, of
>>> sometimes staggering sophistication and literary nuance, to sincerely
>>> believe that writing is somehow an entirely suspect technology.
>>> Different from orality, certainly, as is suggested by the consistent
>>> presentation of Socrates as an oral teacher, the careful use of mythos
>>> vs. logos, etc. - but hardly an example of media / moral panic.
>>> And so on.
>>> Again: what am I missing?
>>> 
>>> Again, many thanks,
>>> - c.
>>> --
>>> Professor in Media Studies
>>> Department of Media and Communication
>>> University of Oslo
>>> <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
>>> 
>>> Postboks 1093
>>> Blindern 0317
>>> Oslo, Norway
>>> c.m.ess at media.uio.no
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
>>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>>> 
>>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>>> http://www.aoir.org/
>>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
>> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
>> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
>> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
>> 
>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>> http://www.aoir.org/
>> 
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> 
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/