On Systems of Rhetoric.

The article discusses the concept of rhetorical systems in three historical periods. The rhetoric of the classical period arose out of a two-fold problem or need. First, with the development of democratic institutions in the city states of Sicily in Italy and Greece, speechmaking as an activity found new avenues of expression and gained in importance until it came to be regarded as an art form as well as a social instrument. And, second, how could proficiency in the important business of performing this speech act be taught in a society where every man must act as his own lawyer and his own legislator? These two needs were the decisive factors in determining the nature of the classical rhetoric. Whereas the rhetoric of the classical period was basically grammatical in nature, the new rhetoric of the eighteenth century period is best described as psychological. In the effort to carry rhetoric beyond the grammar of the speech act, the architects of the new system gave rhetoric an epistemological rather than a grammatical or a logical starting point. The third and last of the period systems extends from the early 193O's to the present time and encompasses developments which have occurred in the United States. Rhetoric of the third period may best be described as social or sociological. For while as a system contemporary rhetoric is unusually complex and embraces many specialized strands of interest, all of these strands find unity in the fact that at bottom they view rhetoric as an instrument for understanding and improving human relations.