I haven't read any of the primary texts yet - that comes shortly. I've been using Classical Rhetorical Theory as an introductory overview before I head into Greek Rhetoric Before Aristotle. The odd thing is that I'm starting to really like some of these guys more than others, and I feel a little ridiculous about that. Isn't that like liking someone because you read about them in People but never met them? At least I have some hope of formulating a reasonable opinion in the next few weeks.

At any rate: Isocrates and Aristotle are my men! Isocrates is so pragmatic, which appeals to me much more than Plato's flower-child idealism. "Knowledge of the Good" is crap, because it doesn't take into account the wormish parts of human nature, and Good is relative anyway. (Which Plato does acknowledge. But still.) "For Isocrates, the world is ruled by partial knowlege, limited options, and imperfect choices" (47). Precisely so, at least in my universe.

And Aristotle - practical wisdom and passion. It really doesn't get much better than that.

People who make every decision on the basis of antecedent rules, Aristotle remarks, are like architects who measure curves with straight rulers. ... The person of practical wisdom is prepared to meet the new with flexibility, with attention to its particularity and responsiveness to its uniqueness. (56)

Because deliberation is a function of one's character, and because character issues form a disposition toward appropriate emotional and intellectual responses to situations, judgment in deliberation issues both from the intellect and the emotions. For Aristotle, character combines intellect and passion in such a way that the intellect informs the passions and the passions drive the intellect. Accordingly, even if it were possible to eliminate the passions from deliberation, it would not be wise. (57)

...the person of practical wisdom relies on the power of the intellect as much as on the power of desire, and brings to the new situation both intellectual commitments and emotional attachments, calculation and passion alike. (58)