ABSTRACT
Although Plato's criticisms of rhetoric have persisted throughout the years, many scholars and philosophers have disputed the notion that rhetoric is merely cookery, hot air, or flowery language. Plato's student Aristotle wrote a treatise, The Rhetoric, that remains to this day an influential legitimization of the subject. Aristotle defined rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion" (1984, 3). Specifically, he was interested in the intentional application of "all the available means of persuasion" in political speeches, courtroom speeches, and ceremonial speeches. Aristotle disagreed with Plato's view that rhetoric was mere cookery. He saw it as a necessary, legitimate tool of democracy, worthy of study.
