Definition:
The first of the five canons of rhetoric: the discovery of the resources for persuasion inherent in any given rhetorical problem. Cicero defined invention as the "discovery of valid or seemingly valid arguments to render one's cause probable" (De Inventione). In Latin, inventio; in Greek, heuresis. See also: discovery strategy.
Etymology:
From the Latin, "to find"Examples and Observations:
- "The importance of wisdom for invention appears in Cicero's assertion, made at the beginning of Book 2 [of De Oratore] . . . , that no one can ever flourish and excel in eloquence without learning not only the art of speaking, but the whole of wisdom (2.1)."
(Walter Watson, "Invention," Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. by T. O. Sloane, Oxford Univ. Press, 2001) - "The Latin word inventio gave rise to two separate words in modern English. One is our word 'invention,' meaning 'the creation of something new' (or at least different). . . .
"The other modern English word derived from Latin inventio is 'inventory.' This word refers to the storage of many diverse materials, but not to random storage. . . .
"Inventio has the meanings of both these English words, and this observation points to a fundamental assumption about the nature of 'creativity' in classical culture. Having 'inventory' is a requirement for 'invention.' . . . Some type of locational structure is a prerequisite for any inventive thinking at all."
(Mary Carruthers, The Craft of Thought, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000) - "Invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory; nothing can come of nothing."
(Joshua Reynolds) - "Invention consists in the capacity of seizing on the capabilities of a subject and in the power of molding and fashioning ideas suggested by it."
(Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818)
Pronunciation: in-VEN-shun
Also Known As: prewriting, discovery, inventio, heuresis
