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

Aristotle and the Techne of RhetoricBetween the third and fifth centuries B.C. in that location existed a golden and classical age of thought in the superannuated world, with the majority of this activity centered in the polis of capital of Greece, Greece. Although the city is historically recognised for its legendary conflict with rival polis Sparta, Athens is perhaps best cognise for the creation of countrythat noble political experiment that laid the prelim structure for most of the rights we Americans enjoy today. First among these rights was the freedom of speech. Each 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 constituent in the matter, and his success in dissuading or persuading his audience meant the action Athens would potentially take. So outstanding rhetoric, and the study, teaching, and delivery of it, became the cent er of attention among the Athenians democracy meant individual empowerment, and good rhetoric meant the power to make change. The first nonability scholars to take on the challenge of analyzing and teaching the art of rhetoric were Isocrates, Socrates, and later, Plato. Plato concisely created an academy in Athens, appropriately called the Plato Academy that attracted men who were interested in the art. One of the first students was Aristotle, who like Plato, had a lasting effect non only on the study of rhetoric, but the discipline itself. Aristotle was born in 384 BC at Stagirus, a Greek colony and seaport on the coast of Thrace. His father, Nichomachus, was a respected physician to the King Amyntas of Macedonia. This connection with the royal family served Aristotle we... ...tain an audience in an effort to create change. So no, technology is not always simply a machine spitting out rivets or a computer humming away in some science lab somewhere. It can be, as Aristotle ar gues, found in the logic of the human intellect for the mind is, and will always be, humankinds greatest techne. whole shebang CitedAristotle. On Rhetoric A Theory of Civic Discourse. Ed. G. A. Kennedy. Oxford New York, 1991.Aristotle (384 322 BCE.) Overview The earnings Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available Online www.utm.edu/research/iep/a/aristotl.htm. Accessed 12 Feb. 2003.Foss, S.K. Rhetorical admonition Exploration and Practice. Prospect Heights, IL Waveland, 1996.Newbold, Dr. Webster. Review of Understanding technology building block Writing and Technology. Available online www.bsu.edu/web/00wwnewbold /213/213unit1review.htm. Accessed 11 Feb. 2003.