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©2010 Pearson Education The Earliest Teachers of Rhetoric Corax (476 B.C.) Doctrine of general probability. Focused on likelihood of guilt. Public speaking skills to defend ones self in courts.

©2010 Pearson Education Beginning of the Greek Tradition: The Sophists Skilled speakers won in courts. Sophist: “wisdom bearer.” Helped train people. Some wrote speeches (logographers).  Antiphon ( B.C.).  Lysias ( B.C.).

©2010 Pearson Education Beginning of the Greek Tradition: The Sophists Some trained people to be eloquent.  Protagoras ( B.C.).  Gorgias ( B.C.). Some trained people to be statesmen. Isocrates ( B.C.) helped to promote wisdom in his students.

©2010 Pearson Education Beginning of the Greek Tradition: The Sophists Isocrates’ three keys to success:  Natural ability.  Ability refined through practice and experience.  Education in philosophy as well as rhetoric. Some criticized sophists of focusing more on form, and less on content.

©2010 Pearson Education Plato Lived from 469 to 399 B.C. The biggest critic of the sophists. Was a student of Socrates. Writings focused on:  Psychology.  Logic.  Rhetoric. Platonic (Socratic) Method: helped determine the “truth.”

©2010 Pearson Education Plato Rhetoric: a means of using language to influence the minds of listeners, not just those in the courts. Truth exists on several levels:  Doxa - observed human senses (least reliable).  Episteme - “true” knowledge, from philosophical inquiry (most reliable).

©2010 Pearson Education Aristotle Lived from 384 to 322 B.C. Founded the Lyceum school. His Rhetoric was the earliest discussion of speechmaking. Had philosophy of Plato, and practical suggestions of the Sophists. Believed rhetoric was an art – a system that could be taught.

©2010 Pearson Education Aristotle Defined rhetoric as: “the faculty of discovering, in any given case, the available means of persuasion.” Three means of persuasion:  Ethos - credibility  Logos - reasoning  Pathos - emotions

©2010 Pearson Education Aristotle Said there were different situations (“given cases”) for a speech:  Deliberative – legislative speaking (decide on a course of action)  Forensic – speaking in courts (judge a person’s past action)  Epideictic – ceremonial oratory (praise or blame the speech subject) Situations were determined by the role of listeners.

©2010 Pearson Education The Roman Tradition Roman educational systems prepared citizens to speak in legislatures & courts. Progymnasmata: written & spoken exercises. Schools of rhetoric focused on 5 arts:  Invention – gather evidence  Arrangement – organize ideas  Style – use of language  Memory – recall ideas when speaking  Delivery – nonverbal skills

©2010 Pearson Education The Roman Tradition Cicero Ideal orator: a learned philosopher-statesman. Public Speaking: intended for the good of the state. A true orator is a fully educated person. Quintilianus Stressed moral & ethical uses of rhetoric. Believed the ideal orator was “a good man speaking well.”