Classical Greek Rhetorical Theory and the Disciplining of Discourse. E-book

This book contributes to the history of classical rhetoric by focusing on how key terms helped to conceptualise and organise the study and teaching of oratory. David Timmerman and Edward Schiappa demonstrate that the intellectual and political history of Greek rhetorical theory can be enhanced by a better understanding of the emergence of ëterms of artí in texts about persuasive speaking and argumentation. The authors provide a series of studies to support their argument. They describe Platoís disciplining of dialgesthai into the Art of Dialectic, Socratesí alternative vision of philosophia, and Aristotleís account of demegoria and symboule as terms for political deliberation. The authors also revisit competing receptions of the Rhetoric to Alexander. Additionally, they examine the argument over when the different parts of oration were formalised in rhetorical theory, illustrating how an ëold schoolí focus on vocabulary can provide fresh perspectives on persistent questions.