Rhetoric, from Greek rhêtorikê, means the art of persuasion through words. Spoken communication is the basis of social interaction and more than that, it acts as the fundamental element of politics.
Thus, rhetoric uses language, efficiently, building an argument that aims to convince to influence deliberation and decision making.
Conviction and persuasion strategies are rhetorical skills that build a narrative, influencing the way of understanding or interpreting reality.
The meaning of rhetoric and its importance in politics
Rhetoric was understood among the Greeks as the basic structure of law and politics, the “art of persuasion” was a fundamental issue in decision-making within Greek democracy.
Two basic principles guide democracy, from its emergence in ancient Greece to today: isonomy (equal rights to citizens) and isegoria (right to voice and vote).
Thus, the right to a voice, on the other hand, demanded that Greek citizens have a great language ability to present their perspectives clearly and convincingly.
Since then, politics has developed from the clash of ideas. Thus, the rhetoric aims to convince the adversary or the public, based on the clear exposition of ideas and the capacity for argument, being a fundamental point of political activity.
The importance of sophists in the development of rhetoric
Rhetoric emerges in an organized and systematized way from the performance of the sophists, as a way of convincing and persuasion. Sophists came to play an important role in the Greek political system.
Because the Sophist perspective did not believe in the existence of true knowledge, it understood the truth as a perspective validated by efficient argumentation.
The sophist Gorgias defined the rhetoric as:
persuade by means of speeches, the judges in the courts, the counselors in the council, the members of the assembly in the assembly and in any other public meeting.
In other words, rhetoric was the foundation of what could be taken for granted, since consensus is generated.
Thus, the teaching of rhetoric came to be understood as a tool for political participation and as a fundamental art for the formation of citizens.
Rhetoric in Aristotle
Aristotle was a critical disciple of Plato, but what he had in common was an understanding of true knowledge. Like his master, he rejected the sophist perspective, understood knowledge apart from mere consensual opinion.
However, for Aristotle, rhetoric, persuasion through argumentation, should be perceived as a fundamental technique for politics, capable of demonstrating in a practical way the theses to be defended.
Three fundamental aspects support Aristotle’s rhetoric: ethos , pathos and logos .
- Ethos is an ethical principle that guides the argument.
- Pathos is the appeal to the feelings evoked by the speaker in his arguments.
- Logos is the logical structure of the argument.
This triad that supports the argument, proposed by the philosopher, composes what is understood by rhetoric today.
The rise of oratory and its difference from rhetoric
With the heyday of the Roman Empire, oratory emerged. Initially, oratory is rhetoric itself. However, over time, there is a distinction between the two.
The oratory assumes itself as the good to speak, to expose oneself in an eloquent way, more linked to the ability of linguistics and vocabulary. Rhetoric, on the other hand, remains centered on the idea of argumentative persuasion and persuasion.