STRC 3336 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Cultural Relativism, Physis, Isocrates
5 Sep 2016
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His system of teaching oratory was adapted by others. The popularity of rhetoric had a lot to do with the dramatic changes affecting greek city-states, especially athens. There was a cultural change from aristocracy to democracy. Sophists taught greek citizens about verbal discourse and trained them in inventing arguments to large audiences. Rhetoric became a major aspect of culture and education. Their course of study was on rhetoric, the art of logos which means both words and arguments. Many sophists became famous and wealthy in greece. Besides speech making, they claimed to have taught ar te, a greek term meaning virtue, personal excellence, and even the ability to manage ones personal affairs to succeed in public life. The sophists said their courses would teach students to be masters of persuasion over other people. This approach taught students to argue either side of a case. Endoxa-premises that were widely believed or taken to be highly probable.
