Nowadays, the term ‘rhetoric’ seems to insinuate something meaningless, irrational, or harmful, much like the Platonic views on the concept. However, according to Thomas DeGirolami, there is one perspective on rhetoric that we ought to revisit in our increasingly politically-divided world: Cicero’s. Cicero placed rhetoric within the larger framework of “oratory”, which was the tool for dispersing wisdom to the general public. In a way, oratory was seen as the medium by which philosophy could be deployed to bridge social classes, uphold the law, and keep the public memory alive. Read full article here
