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What is rhetoric and why is it important as a field of study?
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” (Mark Antony Julius Caesar 3.2.74108). From the ancients to the modern man, from tyrants to saints, the art of
persuasion which is the essence of Rhetoric has played a central and crucial role. The
essential elements of rhetoric and the evolution that rhetoric has experienced over time
continue to influence the minds and hearts of peoples and societies. As Patricia Bizzell
et al so eloquently put it, “Today rhetoric encompasses virtually all forms of discourse
and symbolic communication” (Bizzell et al, 3) Therefore, rhetoric is essential as a study
because it defines the historical attitudes of a society, it provides the groundwork for
reasonable discourse, and it has the power to affect meaningful change in society.
The study of rhetoric is worth examining first for its historical value. Over the centuries
and millennia philosophers, psychiatrists, and politicians have shifted the meaning and
purpose of rhetoric. Specifically, rhetoric has defined how intellectuals and academics
have looked at the true meaning of knowledge. The original understanding as asserted
by the Sophists was that rhetoric and knowledge were essentially synonymous:
“Sophists espoused the view that human knowledge relies solely on sense perception
and is therefore necessarily contingent. Certainty or absolute truth is not available to
humans” (24). Because the Sophists saw themselves as “both philosophers and
rhetoricians, but also as natural scientists and even “theologians” (5). Their belief that all
knowledge was contingent and was based on perception permeated all of their fields of
study. Consequently, until they were challenged by Aristotle, there was a common
understanding that there was no correct way to look at the world. Knowledge was
essentially the result of popular opinion and was therefore necessarily ephemeral and
ever-changing. Rhetoric in the understanding of great Roman thinkers like Cicero and
Quintilian became more practical than theoretical; it was either a “weapon” or “capable
of curing a diseased mind” (7). Cicero especially saw value in an orator’s power to use
rhetoric effectively. The orator, Cicero argued, can “elevate the audience by teaching,
pleasing, and moving them to prefer the moral solution to common problems. The
practicality inherent in the Roman psyche is evident in their attitude toward rhetoric. In a
similar vein, the relationship between the Christian and Muslim worlds in contrast to the
beliefs of the Ancients was indicative of the time in which these religious views were
being developed. For many Church fathers, “rhetoric was imbued with the hopeless
moral corruptions and idolatry of the pagan world” (10) while for the Muslim philosopher
al-Fārābī “links rhetoric with metaphysical truth and thus with religious faith” (10).
The Modern area was a period of great contrasts. The Cartesian and Lockean
perspectives on rhetoric were representative of the early part of the Modern era. As
people began to question their place in history, the turning away from the pagan beliefs
of the Ancients and the monotheistic religions and towards the more critical and
skeptical rhetoric itself became scrutinized. Descartes was “deeply dubious of rhetoric,”
and Locke believed in an economy of words, an idea that was later called into question
by later philosophers at the French Academy who perceived rhetoric as “a counterpoint
to logic [and] a means of access to the divine” (11) In Italy similar sentiments were
expressed by Vico who saw rhetoric as a means to “develop originality and
imagination.” One could argue once again that the more creative and almost poetic
traditions of Italy and the French Academy stand in stark contrast to the more pragmatic
nature of England
While it would be easy to continue to follow the footprints of rhetoric through history era
by era, it is clear from the Ancients to the early thinkers of the Modern era that the
attitude that society has towards the art of rhetoric is strongly reflective of the society
itself.
It is a natural extension to move from discussing the historical implications of rhetoric to
exploring the study of rhetoric as it impacts the ability to have meaningful discourse and
specifically use that discourse to affect meaningful change. Because rhetoric is such a
powerful tool, there are many examples of rhetoric having positive repercussions. The
increased dialogue and progress of women’s rights clearly reflect the benefits that
rhetoric has been able to bring about.
The ability for women to be taught and to use rhetoric was largely repressed through
much of history. However, the shining light of Madeline de Scudery in the 1600s
provided an entre into this world through her salons which “endowed private
conversation with the rhetorical power that had once been the exclusive province of
public oratory, meaning that women were now included in the rhetorical tradition in an
unprecedented way” (12) Although the spirit of the times was not yet open to fully
embracing a woman’s equality, women like Margaret Fell were able to use rhetoric to
defend not only her religious beliefs, but also “their very right to read, write, and speak”
(12). It was the power of rhetoric that created a dialogue that was used by Mary
Wollstonecraft, Maria Stewart, and others of their time to “lay claim to universal rights
for both themselves and for others” (`12). There continue to be attitudes that stand as
impediments to women’s fight for equality, as Hélène Cixous writings on écriture
féminine demonstrate. However rhetoric remains a powerful tool to respond to these
continued challenges.
Patricia Bizzell et al assert: “the history of rhetoric is the story of a long struggle to
understand the relationships between discourse and knowledge, communication and its
effects, language, and experience” (16). The history of a country and its culture is often
correlated to their attitude towards rhetoric and the purposes to which they use it.
Rhetoric can provide change specifically in the realm of overcoming oppression. As a
result, it is an essential part of our existence, and studying rhetoric is an aspect of
studying ourselves.
Works Cited
Bizzell, Patricia, Bruce Herzberg, and Robin Reames, eds. The Rhetorical Tradition:
Readings From Classical Times,
3rd ed., Bedford & St. Martin's, 2020.