Guided Reading 3/3

Description

In the Phadreus, an ancient Greek text, Plato relates a dialogue between his teacher, Socrates, and a man named Phaedreus. In this conversation, Socrates discusses the mythic origin of writing and the consequences of this new technology.  In A Better Pencil, Dennis Baron examines the history and material properties of written texts, drawing attention to issues of authenticity, authority, and reproduction.  In this response (minimum 250 words), please address the following questions: Why does Socrates think that writing is inferior to conversation? What effect does Socrates think that writing will have on knowledge and learning?  According to Baron, written documents have not always been considered trustworthy or reliable. What was added to medieval English documents (described by Clanchy) to convince people that they were authentic? Which of these techniques are still used today to prove that a document is “real”? Give some examples.