La Retórica, fundamento de la ciudadanía y de la formación escolar en la sociedad moderna

Abstract

This article does not involve an attempt to analyze processes or structures, as is common in political science. Instead, we will seek to discover what, according to Aristotle, enables and composes the political life of the citizen. Aristotle presents politics as the result of an architecture of prudence and science; the instrument that generates that architecture is language. The use of this social instrument, fundamental for the establishment of human society and its political organization, is what we know as Rhetoric. An instrument is a manner of achieving specific forms and goals, but when the instrument acquires a fundamental nature, it no longer functions simply as a means of attaining goals, and actually takes on the role of determining the end and the structure that is being developed. This instrumentality that directs and orients us can also at times remain unnoticed, as part of the collective subconscious. Considering Rhetoric as the conscious use of language, the author seeks to emphasize the value of rhetorical consciousness, which is essential in the coordination of action for each and every member of a social and political community.