An introduction to the art of discourse, the book covers rhetoric from ancient to modern times. In the first part, it thematizes the origin and term rhetoric, its reflection in Plato’s philosophy, particularities of Roman rhetoric, as well as Medieval and Renaissance rhetoric. The skill is taken as a field of un-formalized thought, in which a decisive role is played by argumentation and power of explanation, rather than mathematical demonstration and apodictic certainty. Modern rhetoric places emphasis on the philosophy of language and linguistic, as well as the relation of rhetoric and hermeneutics, rhetoric and democracy.