In James A. Herrick’s The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction, we find that in Europe during the Renaissance, Rhetoric was stressed as a method of persuasion. However, during the Medieval Ages, such persuasion was very looked down upon because it was seen as a highly manipulative and underhanded, and the main instance where it was implemented (within the Church to evangelize) was dependent on the truth of God to convict the listener and not the words of a speaker. During the Renaissance we see that rhetoric is not only heavily used in the Church, but also in politics. Historian Brian Vickers says that the reason for this was because “rhetoric is essential to governors and counselors because it can persuade men to do what you want them to do.” Such a statement reflects Plato’s great fear of cunning men manipulating the people through false rhetoric (Herrick, 2018).
So, it is clear then that the Europeans in the days of the Renaissance were more concerned with spreading their potentially biased doctrine and not with seeking the absolute truth, as earlier Greek rhetors were. Neither is it concerned with entertaining audiences, as the Romans practiced. Herrick states that “The standards of personal refinement were drawn from the Roman model of the finished orator.”, meaning that in order to be a model citizen during the Renaissance, one must be accomplished in rhetoric. It’s worth considering that perhaps the reason the focus of rhetoric to persuade was not seen as manipulative by the people because the manipulators (or rhetoricians) were prime examples of the ideal citizen, and thus were worthy of political leadership (Herrick, 2018).
Help Recieved:
-Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric: an Introduction. Routledge, 2018.
-Easybib.com
