ABSTRACT
Although the classical Platonic question whether “rhetoric” is an art (techne) seems to have been settled by Aristotle in rhetoric's favor, the existential doubt continues to animate many a discussion in both rhetorical historiography and contemporary rhetorical theory. The debate has now moved beyond the “foundational and totalizing question ‘What is rhetoric?’” to the more inclusive and proactive question ‘What can a rhetoric be?’” (Lucaites, Condit, and Caudil 19). In the spirit of anti-foundationalism, this paper seeks to revisit the question of techne from a perspective of Isocrates, the rival of Plato and Aristotle. Isocrates gives an ambivalent response to the question “do you possess a techne” often posited in Platonic dialogues to poets and rhetoricians alike. Answering “yes” or “no” would mean to yield to the assumptions of Plato's epistemology. Instead, Isocrates ushers in a notion of a discursive education (logon paideia) that is grounded in the pre-Platonic performance culture. Rather than objectify the subject matter of a “thetoric,” paideia fosters self-reflexive performance (mimesis) of civic excellence. Isocrates's language game is worth the attention of today's rhetorical educators as he argues for an inclusive and politically responsible discursive training (logon paideia) over and against the disembodied mastery of a techne. However, logon paideia would stand in sharper relief if we first consider the implications of the techne question in Plato and Aristotle.
