rhetoric in theory

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Plato 's Views on Rhetoric

According to Alfred North Whitehead , all subsequent thought is a footnote to Plato (qtd in Honderich 284 . The importance that Whitehead ascribes to Plato is a result of Plato 's development of a philosophical system that was able to tackle issues within the fields of epistemology , metaphysics , aesthetics , and social and political philosophy . Although Plato did not write

a systematic philosophical treatise , he was able to tackle the issues within the various fields stated above in his different dialogues as can be seen in Euthydemus Protagoras , Phaedrus and his other works . For the purpose of this the focus will be on Plato 's conception of rhetoric and how his conception of rhetoric has influenced political thought

Robert Wandy (1998 ) defines rhetoric as the capacity to persuade others , or a practical realization of this ability , or at least , an attempt at persuasion , successful or not (1 . The conscious reflection on the practice of rhetoric and the debate regarding its nature and value started during the period of the Ancient Greeks . During the period of the Ancient Greeks , there was a distinction between the rhetoricians and sophists . The former group taught techniques of persuasion whereas the later group taught general moral and political convictions . Although the sophists separated themselves from rhetoricians , they also taught rhetoric to their students on...