Then he was finished. The last speaker was the accused who then gave his own peroratio . I have used Latin names for these speeches because I can never remember the Greek ones and because the Latin names suggest the parts of modern public arguments. Young men of Athens came to him for instruction in how to speak well enough to get justice from Athenian juries. Over the centuries, rhetoric developed into an elaborate system of lessons which were the base of an upper class education.
Objective truth means that whatever is true is independent of the speaker of the truth.
It is extremely efficient in problem-solving. Western-style arguments generally have clear winners and losers. However, in human relationships, losers tend to resent winners and people would often rather lie to themselves than admit their side isn't right. This emotional corollary to having triumphant winners and humiliated losers has led to millions of divorces and at least one world war, and it limits the value of argument as a means of discovering truth. In the end of this millennium we have an extremely urgent need to learn to figure out how all sides can have the maximum amount of satisfaction.