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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.

Like the other works of Aristotle that have survived from antiquity, Rhetoric seems not to have been intended for publication, being instead a collection of his students' note from his lectures. The treatise shows the development of Aristotle's thought through two different periods while he was in Athens, illustrating his defense of the study of rhetoric against Plato's criticism that it is immoral and dangerous, and that it should not be considered an art or craft (techne) worthy of study.[1][2] For Plato, rhetoric and poetry were tools used to persuade and manipulate, particularly by the sophists, in contrast to philosophy, the pursuit of knowledge.[3] Aristotle, on the other hand, regarded logic, dialectic (philosophical debate), and rhetoric as closely related. Indeed, the first line of Rhetoric is "Rhetoric is the counterpoint of Dialectic."[4]

Rhetoric consists of three books. Book I offers a general overview. 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

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).[5]

The treatise illustrates Aristotle's expansion of the study of rhetoric beyond Plato's early criticism of it in the Gorgias (ca. 386 BCE).[6][7] 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.

Scholarly opinion

Rhetoric is regarded by most rhetoricians as "the most important single work on persuasion ever written." [8] Gross & Walzer concur, indicating 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. [9]

Aristotle is generally credited with developing the seminal system of rhetoric that "thereafter served as its touchstone" [10], influencing the development of rhetorical theory from ancient through modern times. Indeed, rhetorical theory and criticism in the first half of the 20th century was dominated by neo-Aristotelian criticism, the tenets of which were summed up most clearly in 1925 by Herbert Wichelns. [11] 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."[12] The discipline of philosophers, on the other hand, have tended to ignore the Rhetoric, claiming that it has had "marginal influence" [13]. This is largely a reflection of disciplinary divisions, dating back to Peter Ramus's attacks on Aristotlean rhetoric in the late 1500s [14] and continuing to the present.[15]

English translation

Most English readers have relied on four translations. The first was by Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb, published in 1909.[16] The second, by John H. Freese, was published as a part of the Loeb Classical Library in 1924.[17] The third, by W. Rhys Roberts, was published in 1924 and reprinted in 1954;[18] the 1954 edition is widely available online. The fourth, by Lane Cooper, was published in 1932.[19] The first major translation in almost a century was by George A. Kennedy, a leading classicist and rhetorician. [20] Kennedy's edition is notable not only for the clarity of its translation, but also for its extensive notes. commentary, and bibliography, making it generally regarded today as the standard scholarly resource on the Rhetoric.[21]

Overview

Book I consists of four major units, focusing on defining rhetoric in general, then defining in more detail the use of Deliberative, Epideictic, and Forensic rhetoric. 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.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ Griswold, Charles. "Plato on Rhetoric and Poetry", Stanfield Encyclopedia of Philosophy, December 22, 2003.
  2. ^ Gorgias, 465a, Perseus Project.
  3. ^ Garver, Eugene. "Rhetoric," Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  4. ^ Aristotle. Rhetoric, Book 1, page 1, translated by W. Rhys Roberts, Kessinger Publishing.
  5. ^ Bizzell, P. & Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. NY: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.
  6. ^ Griswold, Charles. "Plato on Rhetoric and Poetry", Stanfield Encyclopedia of Philosophy, December 22, 2003.
  7. ^ Gorgias, 465a, Perseus Project.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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).
  10. ^ Bizzell, P. & Bruce Herzberg. (2000). The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. NY: Bedford/St. Martin's. p.3.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Foss, Sonja J. (1989). Rhetorical criticism: Exploration and practice. Prospect Heights IL (USA): Waveland Press. p.71 & 75.
  13. ^ Garver,E. (1994). Aristotle's Rhetoric: An Art of Character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p.4
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Gross & Walzer,2000, p.ix.
  16. ^ Jebb, Richard C. (trans.) 1909. The Rhetoric of Aristotle. Cambridge: University Press.
  17. ^ Freese, John H.(trans.) (1924). Aristotle, The Art of Rhetoric. With Greek text. Cambridge: Loeb Classical Library/Harvard University Press.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Cooper, Lane (trans). (1932/1960). The Rhetoric of Aristotle. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
  20. ^ Kennedy, George A. (trans./ed.). 1991. Aristotle 'On Rhetoric': A Theory of Civic Discourse. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  21. ^ van Noorden, Sally. "A translation of Aristotle's Rhetoric," The Classical Review, 1993, 43.2, pp. 251-252.
  22. ^ Corbett, 1984, pp.v-xxvi.

Further reading

  • Translation of Rhetoric by W. Rhys Roberts
  • Perseus Project Rh.1.1.1
  • Aristotle's Rhetoric at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Garver, Eugene. Aristotle's Rhetoric: An Art of Character. The University of Chicago Press, 1995.
  • Golden, James L.; Goodwin F. Berquist; William E. Coleman; & J. Michael Sproule (eds.). The Rhetoric of Western Thought, 8th ed. Dubuque, IA (USA): Kendall/Hunt, 2003.
  • 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.
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