Rhetoric is the counterpart of Dialectic. Both alike are concerned with such things that come, more or less, within the general ken of all men and belong to no definite science. Accordingly, all men make use, more or less, of both; for, to a certain extent, all men attempt to discuss statements and to maintain them, to defend themselves, and to attack others. Ordinary people do this either at random or through practice and from acquired habit. Both ways being possible, the subject can plainly be handled systematically, for it is possible to inquire the reason why some speakers succeed through practice and others spontaneously; everyone will at once agree that such an inquiry is the function of an art.
