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

Aristotle and the Techne of RhetoricBetween the third and fifth centuries B.C. there existed a golden and classical age of conception 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 best(p) known for the creation of democracythat noble political experiment that laid the preliminary 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 voice in the matter, and his success in dissuading or persuading his audience meant the action Athens would potentially take. So unwrapstanding rhetoric, and the study, teaching, and delivery of it, became the center of attention among t he Athenians democracy meant individual empowerment, and ethical rhetoric meant the power to make change. The first 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, suitably 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 not only on the study of rhetoric, merely 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 queen mole rat 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 lab somewhere. It can be, as Aristotle argues, found in the logic of th e human nous for the mind is, and will always be, humankinds greatest techne.Works CitedAristotle. On Rhetoric A Theory of Civic Discourse. Ed. G. A. Kennedy. Oxford New York, 1991.Aristotle (384 322 BCE.) Overview The Internet encyclopedia of Philosophy. easy 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 technology Unit Writing and Technology. Available online www.bsu.edu/web/00wwnewbold /213/213unit1review.htm. Accessed 11 Feb. 2003.