Rhetoric

Rhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rh�t�r, "orator") is one
of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are
dialectic and grammar). While it has meant many different things during its
2500-year history, it is generally described today as the art of persuasion
through language.

Rhetoric began in ancient Greece. The first written manual is attributed to
Corax and Tisias. Rhetoric was popularized in the 5th century B.C. by
itinerant teachers known as sophists, the best known of whom were
Protagoras, Gorgias, and Isocrates.

Plato is the great historical enemy of the sophistic movement. For Plato,
the essence of philosophy lay in the process of dialectic, in which reason
and discussion progressively lead to the discovery of important truths.
Plato believed that the sophists cared not for the truth of an argument, but
only how they might appear to win it.

Two of Plato's dialogues are especially focused upon rhetoric. The Gorgias
emphasizes Plato's contention that the sophists value style over substance.
Philosophy and rhetoric are related in the same way as are medicine and
cosmetics. That is, medicine (like philosophy) is concerned with what is
truly best for its subjects, whereas cosmetics (like rhetoric) is concerned
solely with appearances. The Phaedrus was written after the Gorgias. While
it continues Plato's critique of rhetoric, he also holds out the possibility
that a rhetoric may yet be devised which is true and noble.

In fact, the rhetoric developed by Plato's student, Aristotle, can be seen
as just such a rhetoric. In the first sentence of The Art of Rhetoric (Ars
Rhetorica), Aristotle immediately describes rhetoric as the counterpart of
dialectic. By this, he means that, while dialectical methods are necessary
to find truth, rhetorical methods are required to communicate it.

Aristotle's systematic description of rhetoric completely dominated
rhetorical thought through the middle ages and beyond. His chief emphasis is
upon the three kinds of proof that can be offered on behalf of an argument.
Logos consists of the use of logic and reason in constructing an argument.
Pathos concerns emotional appeals. Ethos focuses upon how the character of a
speaker influences an audience to consider him to be believable.

Also very important in Aristolte's scheme are Kairos, the context in which
the proof will be delivered, The Audience, the psychological and emotional
makeup of those who will receive the proof, and To Prepon, the style with
which he clothes his proof. In order for rhetoric to be effective, the
orator must be sensitive to these elements. He must realize that the context
will constrict what he can say and what will be considered relevant. He must
attune his message to his audience, or he will risk alienating or disgusting
his audience. And he must embody his ideas in a way that is both proper to
the occasion and to his audience. For example, the orator would not use
colloquial or slang language if he was speaking about a lofty topic. Indeed,
all three elements are intertwined: The character of the audience will
define how the orator judges the context, the context will define the style
he will use, and, through the experimentation, the style will influence what
the context consists of.

While Western philosophy has tended to emphasize Logos, Aristotle's three
bases of evidence provide a philosophical foundation for the broadly
conceived psycho-social or behavioral sciences where accounting for
non-rational factors in human behavior is necessary for explanatory
completeness. Especially professions or occupations in applied social
sciences, such as psychotherapy are based in the practice of persuasion, or
rhetoric in Aristotle's broad conception.

The Romans were great borrowers, and they found much value in Aristotle's
rhetoric. Cicero and Quintilian were chief among Roman rhetoricians, and
their work is clearly an extension of Aristotle's. In particular, Quintilian
codified rhetorical studies under five canons that would persist for
centuries in academic circles. Inventio (invention) is the process that
leads to the development and refinement of an argument. Once an argument is
developed, it is up to dispositio (disposition, or arrangement) to determine
how it should be organized for greatest effect. Once the speech content is
known and the structure is determined, the next steps involve pronuntiatio
(language choice) and elocutio (delivery). Finally, memoria (memory) comes
to play as the speaker recalls each of these elements during the speech.

In the 16th century, after long domination by Scholasticism and Aristotelian
thinking, Petrus Ramus proposed to reorganize the school curriculum of the
day. Breaking with the traditional divisions of the liberal arts, he
proposed something similar to the contemporary division of universities into
multiple schools and departments of study (in fact, Ramus is the ultimate
source of this organizational scheme). His efforts succeeded. The five
components of rhetoric no longer lived under the common heading of rhetoric.
Instead, invention and disposition were determined to fall under the heading
of philosophy, while language, delivery, and memory were all that remained
for rhetoric.

Once stripped of its more substantial elements, rhetoric became a much less
prestigious topic of study. Much as Plato originally condemned the rhetoric
of the sophists for its lack of concern for truth, rhetoric now came to be
associated with emptiness: it ceased to be connected with ideas. In popular
use, this connotation persists to this day. However, the term is still used
in a deeper and more constructive sense in the study of human communication.

(Definitions, discussion of conflicting opinions, ending with synthesis: a
working general definition of rhetoric for this article)

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   * Classical (Greek)
        o Corax (5th century BC) -- produced first written manual of
          rhetoric
        o Gorgias (483?-376? BC) -- father of systematic study of rhetoric
        o Isocrates (436-338 BC) -- foremost teacher of oratory in the
          ancient world
        o Plato (427-347 BC) -- outlined the differences between true and
          false rhetoric
        o Aristotle (384-322 BC) -- created most influential systemization
          of rhetoric ever written -- The Art of Rhetoric
        o Libanius (AD 314-394) -- prominent practioner and teacher in the
          Later Roman Empire
   * Classical (Roman)
        o Cicero (106-43 BC) -- Great Roman orator and philsopher
        o Quintilian (AD 35-100) -- Imperial professor of rhetoric, complete
          system of rhetorical education
   * Medieval
        o Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430) -- Christian, promoted use of
          rhetoric in preaching
   * Renaissance
        o Desiderius Erasmus (AD 1466?-1536) -- Dutch scholar, wrote on
          style and composition
        o Juan Luis Vives (AD 1492-1540) -- established pattern of
          rhetorical education in English
        o Leonard Cox (AD ??-??) -- produced first rhetoric handbook in
          English --Arte or Crafte of Rhetoryke (1530)
        o Thomas Wilson (AD 1525?-1581) -- neoclassicist, wrote most popular
          English Renaissance rhetoric handbook - The Arte of Rhetorique
          (1553)
   * Modern
        o (there's quite a few here; I need to do a little sifting first)
   * Contemporary
        o Kenneth Burke
        o James Kinneavy
        o Chaim Perelman
        o Stephen Toulmin
        o Richard Weaver

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Current State of Rhetorical Study

Rhetorical theory today is much more heavily influenced by the research
results and research methods of the behaviorial sciences and by theories of
literary criticism than by ancient Rhetorical theory.