Relativism and Rhetoric

Yesterday our lecturer put forward the hypothesis that rhetoric and relativism are realated and complimentary fields or in his own words they go "Hand in hand." However, the arguement which he uses to prove this relation is flawed. He suggests that since sophists are students of rhetoric and believe in relativism that his point is proved. The logical error appears when he attempts to categorize all students of rhetoric as sophists. There are many powerful rhetoricians who were absolutists.

In reality, rhetoric is a tool and not a point of view. Any group or person with an opinion can use rhetoric to convince others to his point of view. This is the fundamental use of rhetoric and as such can be used for both good and bad ends.