I
This essay argues that the concept of hegemony in Gramsci
recapitulates and summarizes in Western thought the perennial
argument between philosophy and rhetoric, knowledge and
politics, and dialectic and power. These dichotomies hark back
to Plato’s critique of sophists such as Gorgias, Protagoras, and
Thrasymachus. Plato attempted to undermine the rational and
theoretical bases of rhetoric in order to establish the
supremacy of philosophy over politics, as well as the supremacy
of dialectical speech over rhetorical speech.
The paper further
argues that this antinomy is inherent in Gramsci’s hegemony,
which represents an attempt to reconcile the demands of
philosophy with the requirements of political action.
Gramsci’s hegemony is complex, multiform, and many layered,
characterized by interwoven yet differentiated polarities.
operates within the duality force/consent and
violence/persuasion that to Gramsci characterizes the nature of
power. It acquires concrete structure and specific content
particularly during those periods in history in which the people
or the masses either form the ground of political action or have
become a force in politics.
In the manner of the ancient Greek dichotomy between
Convention