Aristotle and the Techne of Rhetoric Essay -- History Aristotle Essays

Aristotle and the Techne of RhetoricBetween the third and twenty percent centuries B.C. there existed a golden and classical age of thought in the ancient world, with the majority of this activity centered in the polis of Athens, Greece. Although the city is historically recognized for its legendary conflict with rival polis Sparta, Athens is perhaps exceed known for the creation of democracythat noble political experiment that displace the preliminary structure for most of the rights we Americans enjoy today. First among these rights was the freedom of speech. all(prenominal) Athenian citizen (meaning male land owners numbering around five thousand) met regularly in public forums (in an open-air auditorium called the Pnyx) to discuss laws and issues. Each man had a voice in the matter, and his success in dissuading or persuading his audience meant the follow up Athens would potentially take. So revealstanding blandishment, and the study, teaching, and delivery of it, became the center of prudence among the Athenians democracy meant individual empowerment, and good rhetoric meant the power to make change. The origin notable scholars to take on the challenge of analyzing and teaching the art of rhetoric were Isocrates, Socrates, and later, Plato. Plato soon created an academy in Athens, appropriately called the Plato Academy that attracted men who were concerned in the art. One of the first students was Aristotle, who like Plato, had a lasting belief not only on the study of rhetoric, but the discipline itself. Aristotle was innate(p) in 384 BC at Stagirus, a Greek colony and haven on the coast of Thrace. His father, Nichomachus, was a respected physician to the King Amyntas of Macedonia. This fellowship with the royal family served Aristotle we... ...tain an audience in an effort to create change. So no, engine room is not always simply a machine spitting out rivets or a computer humming away in both(prenominal) lab somewhere. It can be, as Aris totle argues, found in the logic of the sympathetic mind for the mind is, and will always be, humankinds superlative techne.Works CitedAristotle. On Rhetoric A Theory of Civic Discourse. Ed. G. A. Kennedy. Oxford bran-new York, 1991.Aristotle (384 322 BCE.) Overview The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available Online www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm. Accessed 12 Feb. 2003.Foss, S.K. rhetorical Criticism Exploration and Practice. Prospect Heights, IL Waveland, 1996.Newbold, Dr. Webster. Review of Understanding engineering science Unit Writing and Technology. Available online www.bsu.edu/web/00wwnewbold /213/213unit1review.htm. Accessed 11 Feb. 2003.