Nope, this isn't the Apple version of Socrates. Isocrates was a major force in shaping rhetoric when it was still developing as a discipline. The criticisms against rhetoric--and against Isocrates himself--led to some of the most important texts in rhetorical history.

Before we talk about the terms, movements and people who helped form rhetoric, what exactly is rhetoric? And why has this question been driving people crazy for thousands of years?