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The Sophists
Who were the Sophists exactly? The Sophists were teachers who formed the first school of thought. More than one philosopher produced this theory of rhetoric and every school of thought following this one pulled from the Sophist's
The Sophists may have been one of the most innovative groups of thinkers out there. However, many thought they were limited because they did not believe that absolute truth existed or that if in fact it did exist, it was not attainable by us as human beings. Basically, the sophists told us that the only absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths. So what exactly is an aboslute truth? It's actually more self explanitory than you would think. Obtaining an absolute truth means that with no shadow of a doubt something is one hundred percent proven to be true, and you have come to see this truth through persuasive speech, or rhetoric. Sometimes you could say these guys even doubted knowledge, because if you couldn't gain truth through it, what good was it?
More than anything else, these philosophers liked to see arguments from two perspectives, or different sides of the argument. They called this Dissoi Loggoi, and it was a term coined by these philosphers, and surprisingly you probably use it and do not even realize it. By finding and identifying the competing claims you can choose which one is the best opposition for you and strike better at that point from your side of the argument. That is an effective example of Dissoi Loggoi. Something else these guys did was coin the term Kairos. This is, in simple terms, ideal timing. Being able to find the right time to produce rhetoric can almost always determine if your rhetoric is effective or not.
Sometimes rhetoric is about creating the best illusion, or using trickery. One last key objective that the Sophists emphasize is Kosmos, or proper opportunity. By mixing these three things together, the Sophists state we can produce effective and meaningful rhetoric.
Sophists believed that meaning, knowledge, and reality all were created from Rhetoric. The Sophists thought that anyone could improve him or herself through teaching, particularly rhetorical teaching.