Communication Study
Determining the beginning of interest in communication and human affairs is difficult—perhaps impossible. Prior to the fifth century B. C. E. Egyptian and Babylonian writings were already expressing an interest in the role of communication in human affairs.
The Roots of the Field
The first scholars to study and write about communication in a systematic manner lived in Ancient Greece. The culture of the times placed heavy emphasis on public speaking, so it is not surprising that the first theories of communication focused on speech. Perhaps the first theory of communication was developed in Greece by Corax, and later further refined by his student, Tisias. Their focus was on the role of communication as it could be used for persuasion in the courtroom, where many important events of the day transpired.
Both Aristotle and his teacher, Plato, were key figures in the development of early communication theory, but Aristotle was probably the most influential. He wrote extensively about communication—which was then termed "rhetoric." Aristotle thought about communication in terms of an orator, or speaker, constructing an argument to be presented in a speech to hearers—an audience. The goal and ultimate effect of communication was persuasion. He described the process as follows:
[Communication] exists to affect the giving of decisions.… [The] orator must not only try to make the argument of his speech demonstrative and worthy of belief, he must also make his own character look right and put his hearers, who are to decide, in the right frame of mind [Roberts, 1924, p.
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