Writing vs. Speaking
People who have majored in philosophy and rhetoric have no doubt studied and read
various books or materials centered on well-known and not so well known philosophers, and
through comparisons, they probably found some similarities along with some differences
among their ideas. Likewise, for the person who reads Alcidamas, and Socrates, it will not be
difficult to find the common threads in each philosophy as well as some distinct differences.
Both Alcidamas and Socrates have adamant ideals regarding an individual’s effectiveness in
public speaking versus writing. Early in his discourse, for example, Alcidamas launches what
seems like an attack against writers or so called sophists for lacking experience in speaking
and for not being trained. He justifies the attack when he states that he intends to dispute
writing because some sophists, with insufficient rhetorical skills, have discredited the entire
profession in their writings. It seems that some writers have provoked him into making his
position publicly known. Ironically, however, he uses the same tool that writers (the ones he
argues against) use—a pen to argue his position against writing. Socrates, on the other hand,
takes a firm stance on revealing the truth and being knowledgeable about the subject. While
Socrates might agree that a person would require training, he would probably elevate wisdom
over it all. Although Alcidamas and Socrates both agree that written speeches cause the
speaker to rely on words rather than memory, Alcidamas makes arguments against written
speeches in favor of oral speeches, and Socrates argues that written speeches and oral
speeches should uncover the truth.
Alcidamas makes it very clear that one who spends his lifetime writing lacks the skills
necessary for speaking and reasoning. Using this as a strategy in his argument, Alcidamas
considers spontaneous oral speech as superior over written speech when he refers to written
speech as being low or common whereas oral speech requires much more wit and labor.
According to Alcidamas, everyone possesses the necessary skills for writing, but those skills
do not prepare a person to speak effectively in a public setting. He indicates that an orator
would need to make few adjustments or make little preparation in order to write. He
illustrates this through the concept that if one has sufficient skills to perform a difficult task,
then he certainly has more than sufficient skills to perform an easy task. That same concept,
however, does not work in the reverse. According to his philosophy, people who write do so
with the aid from research that has been done by others. Simply stated, the writer does not
produce an original work, but rather he only emulates what others have already written.
Socrates neither favors writing nor speaking, rather he advocates revealing the truth.
He argues, however, that written discourse hampers the speaker’s memory because he has a
general tendency to depend completely on the written word. He considers writing as a
recreational pastime and an amusement in the way it should be used to reminisce about a
person’s past. Elderly persons often experience a memory lapse or impairment, and written
documents might help them to remember special event sin the past. Also, he considers the
writer as a father and his product as an offspring who cannot fend for himself leaving him
open to scrutiny and various interpretations. He argues that a writer as well as a speaker
should be knowledgeable enough to adapt his message to any audience and to anticipate any
refutation others might have. A writer should breakdown his arguments until they can no
longer be disputed. According to Socrates, if a person cannot do these, "he will be unable to
handle arguments according to the rules of the art." While comparing writing to a painting,
he refers to "a solemn silence" and he indicates, "the same may be said about speeches." He
further explains that we might attribute intelligence to a speaker, but when asked a question,
the speaker usually gives one answer. His observation might allude to a speaker who
memorizes a prepared speech and one who does not give a spontaneous answer—only a
prepared answer. Also, Socrates rebukes Phaedrus for failure to accept the truth due to its
deliverer or country of origin. We can relate this further to writing versus speechmaking
whereby the procedure one uses does not matter as long as one communicates the truth.
Alcidamas appears more preoccupied with the mechanics of speech than with its
knowledge base. He believes that the mechanics involved in writing forfeits opportunities to
refute potential arguments through lengthy delays while speechmaking responds quickly to
these opportunities. Also, Alcidamas believes that with written speeches the speaker focuses
more on remembering the exact words in the argument rather than the actual point one may
be trying to make. Contrary to this, he believes the opposite holds true for speakers because
their thought process takes priority over words, and they construct the words to accommodate
their thoughts. Moreover, remembering the words may be easy for a speaker because he
frequently uses repetition to emphasize the main points.
Again, I believe that Alcidamas and Socrates share a similar view about writing when
they both make similar observations regarding written speech versus memory. Alcidamas’
response to this indicates that forgetfulness that results from written speech brings disgrace to
the speaker whereas forgetfulness in spontaneous speech remains hidden because the speaker
can pass over that subject and come back to it later. Similarly, Socrates indicates that the
tendency to write words down automatically causes the speaker to erase them from his mind,
and it in turn makes the speaker dependent upon the written document. Initially, however, I
believe that Socrates would somewhat disagree with Alcidamas’ opening statement when he
alludes to the fact that sophists who do not present themselves well to common men lack
experience and training. Although Socrates might favor training, he would probably question
the type of training one would need in order to achieve a level of competency or excellency
in speaking. Also, Socrates would probably advocate having a working knowledge about the
subject and being resourceful enough to reveal the truth of a matter.
Writing, by no means, should be considered easy even if one does it for a living or
strictly for leisure. Comparing it, however, to spontaneous speaking or looking at it from
Alcidamas’ point of view writing seems to be the easier of the two. I agree with Alcidamas
when he writes that writing often lacks originality because we only research the work that
others have created, and we just reiterate their ideas and inventions. However, I disagree
when he indicates that writing does not require skill or labor because researching,
interpreting, and communicating an author’s creation requires both excellent skills and hard
labor.
Just as both Alcidamas and Socrates writes that the writer communicates unilaterally
without the benefit of a spontaneous question and answer session, the same holds true when
researching another writer’s work. When the author is no longer living, the writer does not
have the luxury to ask questions about the parts he does not understand, but rather he must
rely heavily on his own creativity and interpretation to present old concepts in a new way to
his audience. He exhibits originality through his ability to interpret and present several sides
that others may not have explored.
Lastly, some of us communicate more effectively through writing than through
speaking, and the opposite may be true for others. Even though many politicians usually
speak well and give good speeches, most do not write their own speeches. Instead, they hire
experts to research the topics and writers to do the writing. The situation seems to put the
speaker at the mercy of the writer because the speaker acts out a script that has been written
by another, and there may be little room for spontaneity. Perhaps, for this situation, a speaker
would need proper training. Nevertheless, we have explored some reasons that Alcidamas
favors oral speech over written speech along with at least one similarity to Socrates. As we
further compare Alcidamas to Socrates, we find that Alcidamas favors spontaneous speech
while Socrates leans toward the truth regardless of the method.