Ben Richie

Rhetoric, in its most basic form, is the use of language.  As rhetoric is the use of language, a rhetorician is someone who has mastered and has a complete understanding of the use of language.  In Plato’s book Gorgias, he writes that he considers rhetoric a craft rather than an art or a science and only after creating and discarding four or five initial definitions does he create what he believes to be a sufficient definition.  The reason in mentioning Plato is to point out that attempting to construct a clear definition is challenging even for the most highly regarded philosophists.

Rhetoric is used everyday by everyone, no matter the field of study.  While  an everyday conversation may not be the most complex form, interacting with someone is using rhetoric.  Careers that would require experts in rhetoric include teaching, law, politics and obviously speech writers.  To demonstrate the power of rhetoric, in Plato’s Gorgias, he writes that if a rhetorician and a doctor were to argue over anything medical, the rhetorician would eventually win because he understands the language and the true meaning of words on a much higher level.  Fully understanding rhetoric is crucial to anyone who wants to pursue nearly any career that requires a college degree.