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Rhetoric (Aristotle)

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Aristotle, copy of a sculpture by Lysippos.

Aristotle's Rhetoric is an ancient Greek treatise on the art of persuasion, dating from fifth century BCE. In Greek, it is titled Ἡ Τέχνη Ῥητορική , transliterated as Ars Rhetorica. In English, its title varies: typically it is titled the Rhetoric, the Art of Rhetoric, or a Treatise on Rhetoric.

The Rhetoric is generally considered by scholars in the discipline of rhetoric to be "the most important single work on persuasion ever written." [1] Gross & Walzer argue that, just as Whitehead considered all philosophy a footnote to Plato, "all subsequent rhetorical theory is but a series of responses to issues raised" by Aristotle's Rhetoric. [2] Aristotle is generally credited with developing the seminal system of rhetoric that "thereafter served as its touchstone" [3], influencing the development of rhetorical theory from ancient through modern times. Rhetorical theory and criticism in the first half of the 20th century was dominated by the neo-Aristotelian criticism, the tenets of which were summed up most clearly in 1925 by Herbert Wichelns. [4] The dominance of neo-Aristotelian criticism, based on the Rhetoric, was "virtually unchallenged until the 1960s" and even now is considered not only as one of many approaches to criticism, but as fundamental for understanding other theoretical and critical approaches as they "developed largely in response to [its] strengths and weaknesses."[5] The discipline of philosophers, on the other hand, have tended to ignore the Rhetoric, claiming that it has had "marginal influence" [6]. This is largely a reflection of disciplinary divisions, dating back to Peter Ramus's attacks on Aristotlean rhetoric in the late 1500s [7] and continuing to the present.[8]


The Rhetoric, like most of the other works of Aristotle that have survived from antiquity, seems not to have been intended for publication. It appears instead to be a collection of his students' note from his lectures.[9] The treatise shows the development of Aristotle's thought through two different periods while he was in Athens. It illustrates his expansion of the study of rhetoric beyond Plato's early criticism of it in the Gorgias (ca. 386 BCE) as immoral, dangerous, and a mere technique unworthy of study.[10][11] Plato's final dialogue on rhetoric, the Phaedrus (ca.370 BCE), offered a more moderate view of rhetoric, acknowledging its value in the hands of a true philosopher (the "midwife of the soul") for "winning the soul through discourse." This dialogue offered Aristotle, first a student and then a teacher at Plato's Academy, a more positive starting point for the development of rhetoric as an art worthy of systematic, scientific study.

Plato and Aristotle associated the negative side of rhetoric with the sophists, who used rhetoric and poetry to manipulate others through their emotions; this stood in stark contrast to philosophy, the pursuit of knowledge or enlightenment.[12] One of the important aspects of Aristotle's approach was that he identified rhetoric as one of the three key elements of philosophy, along with logic and dialectic. Indeed, the first line of the Rhetoric is "Rhetoric is the counterpoint of Dialectic (1.1.1--1354:1)."[13] Logic, to Aristotle, is concerned with reasoning to reach scientific certainty while dialectic and rhetoric are concerned with probability and thus are best suited to human affairs. [14] Dialectic is a tool for philosophical debate; it is a means for skilled audiences to test probable knowledge in order to learn. Rhetoric is a tool for practical debate; it is a means for persuading a general audience using probable knowledge to resolve practical issues. The two of them together create a partnership for persuasion based on knowledge instead of pure manipulation. [15]

The Rhetoric consists of three books. Book I offers a general overview, establishing the proper purposes of rhetoric, defining it, and establishing the major situations in which rhetoric is used. Book II discusses in detail the three means of persuasion that an orator must rely on: those grounded in credibility (ethos), in the emotions and psychology of the audience (pathos), and in patterns of reasoning (logos). Book III introduces the elements of style (word choice and sentence structure) and arrangement (organization).

History

The Rhetoric was developed by Aristotle during two periods when he was in Athens, the first between 367 to 347 BCE (when he was seconded to Plato in the Academy), and the second between 335 to 322 BCE (when he was running his own school, the Lyceum).[16][17]

English translation

For the past century, most English readers have relied on four translations. The first was by Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb, published in 1909.[18] The second, by John H. Freese, was published as a part of the Loeb Classical Library in 1924.[19] The third, by Lane Cooper, was published in 1932[20] and the fourth, by W. Rhys Roberts, was published in 1924 and then reprinted in 1954.[21] Roberts' 1954 edition of Rhetoric is probably the most readable of the four and is widely available online.

The first major new translation in a century was George Kennedy's 1991 translation.[22] As a scholarly resource, George Kennedy's 1991 translation is regarded as the standard today.[23]

Overview

Book I consists of four major units, focusing on defining rhetoric in general, then defining in more detail the main contexts of rhetoric and the types of rhetoric (Deliberative, Epideictic, and Forensic) that are associated with them. In 1.2.1, Aristotle defines rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case all the available means of persuasion." Book II deals with defining in more detail the three major forms of proof, while Book III focuses on the language aspects of rhetoric such as style and organization. Some attention is paid to delivery, but generally the reader is referred to the Poetics for more information in that area.[24]

Notes

  1. ^ Golden, James L., Goodwin F. Berquist, William E. Coleman, Ruth Golden, & J.Michael Sproule (eds.). (2007). The rhetoric of Western thought: From the Mediterranean world to the global setting, 9th ed. Dubuque, IA (USA): p.67.
  2. ^ Gross, Alan G. & Arthur E. Walzer. (2000). Rereading Aristotle's Rhetoric. Carbondale, IL (USA): Southern Illinois University Press: p.ix. Gross & Walzer further say that "There is no comparable situation in any other discipline: No other discipline would claim that a single ancient text so usefully informs current deliberations on practice and theory."(p.x).
  3. ^ Bizzell, P. & Bruce Herzberg. (2000). The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. NY: Bedford/St. Martin's. p.3.
  4. ^ Wichelns, H. (1925/1958). 'The Literary Criticism of Oratory' in D.C.Bryant (ed.) The Rhetorical Idiom: Essays in Rhetoric, Oratory, Language, and Drama. D.C.Bryant (ed.). Rpt. Ithaca NY (USA): Cornell University Press. p.5-42.
  5. ^ Foss, Sonja J. (1989). Rhetorical criticism: Exploration and practice. Prospect Heights IL (USA): Waveland Press. p.71 & 75.
  6. ^ Garver,E. (1994). Aristotle's Rhetoric: An Art of Character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p.4
  7. ^ Murphy, John J. (1983). "Introduction, " Peter Ramus, Arguments in Rhetoric against Quintilian. C.Newlands (trans.), J.J.Murphy (ed.). DeKalb IL (USA): Univ. of Illinois Press.
  8. ^ Gross & Walzer,2000, p.ix.
  9. ^ Brandes, Paul D. (1989). A history of Aristotle's Rhetoric with a bibliography of early printings. Metuchen NJ (USA): Scarecrow Press.
  10. ^ Griswold, Charles. "Plato on Rhetoric and Poetry", Stanfield Encyclopedia of Philosophy, December 22, 2003.
  11. ^ Gorgias, 465a, Perseus Project.
  12. ^ Garver, Eugene. "Rhetoric," Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  13. ^ W. Rhys Roberts (trans.) (1924/1954). The Rhetoric of Aristotle. Originally published Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. E-book@Adelaide (1007). University of Adelaide, South Australia. Rhetoric
  14. ^ Corbett, Edward P.J. (1984). 'Introduction' to Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics (trans. W. Rhys Roberts & I.Bywater). NY: Modern Library. p.vi-vii.
  15. ^ Corbett, 1984.
  16. ^ Bizzell & Herzberg, 2000.
  17. ^ Corbett, 1984.
  18. ^ Jebb, Richard C. (trans.) 1909. The Rhetoric of Aristotle. Cambridge: University Press.
  19. ^ Freese, John H.(trans.) (1924). Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric. With Greek text. Cambridge: Loeb Classical Library/Harvard University Press.
  20. ^ Cooper, Lane (trans). (1932/1960). The Rhetoric of Aristotle. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
  21. ^ Roberts, W.Rhys (trans). 1924. Rhetorica: The Works of Aristotle, Vol.11. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Rpt. 1954 in Aristotle, "Rhetoric" and "Poetics" (trans. Roberts & Ingram Bywater). New York: Modern Library.
  22. ^ Kennedy, George A. (trans./ed.). 1991. Aristotle 'On Rhetoric': A Theory of Civic Discourse. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  23. ^ van Noorden, Sally. "A translation of Aristotle's Rhetoric," The Classical Review, 1993, 43.2, pp. 251-252.
  24. ^ Corbett, 1984, pp.v-xxvi.

Further reading

  • Jebb, Richard C. The Rhetoric of Aristotle. Cambridge: University Press, 1909.
  • Kennedy, George A. Aristotle, on Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse. NY/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
  • Roberts, W. Rhys. Rhetoric. 1924/1954.
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