Treatise on Rhetoric

The art of rhetoric, or persuasive public speaking, was brought to perfection in classical Athens. During the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E., rhetoric came under the scrutiny of the philosophers. While Plato dismissed public speaking as mere hackwork devoid of a rational basis, Aristotle defended it as a true art.
In his great work, Treatise on Rhetoric, which laid the foundations of philosophical rhetoric, Aristotle deals at length with the processes of argument and with style, includin...