What is rhetoric, anyway?
As an undergraduate student studying Strategic Communications and English with an emphasis in Writing & Rhetoric, I come across the word “rhetoric” a lot.
Like, a lot.
But the funny thing is that when I first declared those majors, I had no idea what the word “rhetoric” meant. And even after almost 8 semesters of classes under my belt, it’s still a tough concept to wrap my head around. Here’s the gist:
The word “rhetoric” was first coined by Plato, student of Socrates, in a dialogue called Gorgias:
“Socrates: I think now, Gorgias, you have come very near to showing us the art of rhetoric as you conceive it, and if I at all take your meaning, you say that rhetoric is a producer of persuasion, and has therein its whole business and main consummation. Or can you tell us of any other function it can have beyond that of effecting persuasion in the minds of an audience?”
You’d think, of course, that if Plato was the one who coined the phrase, he’d have a nice clear-cut definition of the word, but the entire dialogue is more or less of a debate. Gorgias argues that rhetoric is the art or producer of persuasion, something that is concerned with justice and unjustice. But Plato (through Socrates) says that rhetoric is a form of flattery, functioning like cooking, which simply masks the distaste of unhealthy food by making it taste good.
It’s a lot.
So, what is rhetoric? A very widely accepted definition would be “the art of persuasion, or communicating well.” It’s used in modern studies about language, art, philosophy, communication, public relations, and pretty much anything else you can think of. It serves to persuade, like the ancients agreed, but it also serves to communicate, empathize, connect, and learn.
But with its roots in some of the most complicated rhetorical debates of the Ancient Greek, it’s bound to be a little all over the place — I still don’t have a perfect definition myself. Maybe a better question is: what does rhetoric mean to you? How do you use it to better your life and communication skills? Maybe, the most important meaning of rhetoric is the one that resonates the most with you.
Quote citation: Bizzell, Patricia. “Gorgias.” Edited by George A. Kennedy. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present, Bedford/St. Martin’s, Boston, 2020.
