Aristotle and the Theory of Rhetoric
1 The introduction of Aristotle
Aristotle was born to Greek parents in the Macedonian town of Stagira. At that time, Plato was opening the Academy in Athens. When he was seventeen, he went to Athens and entered the academy. He stayed on as a teacher and left twenty years later on Plato’s death.
2 The theory of Aristotle
(1)the definition : Rhetoric refers to the faculty of observing in any given
case the available means of persuasion.
(2)the classification of oratory (according to the topics and occasions )
A.deliberative/political oratory: it urges us either to do or not to do
something and aims to distinguish the beneficial and harmful. It concerns with the future and is about things to be done hereafter that he advises, for or against.
B.epideictic/ceremonial oratory: it either praises or censures somebody
and aims to judge whether a matter or a person is respectful or shameful. It is concerned with the present, the state of things existing at the time. (Also, people sometimes often find it useful to recall the past and to makes guesses at the future.)
C.forensic oratory: it either attacks or defends somebody and aims to
distinguish the justice and injustice. It is concerned with the past. (3)two major categories of rhetoric
A.artistic proofs: the rhetorician needs to construct the material by
means of rhetorical methods. Then three ways to persuade are proposed.
a.logical appeals(logos): they stress the reasonableness of the
rhetorician’s argument.
○1enthymeme (deductive argument)
In essence, it is a kind of deductive argument. It is mainly used to persuade the hearers. The orator just gives the major premises and the hearers draw a conclusion on the base of guessing out the minor premises. Such a way can lead the hearers to participate in the speech.
When it is shown that, certain propositions being true, a further and quite distinct proposition must also be true in consequence, whether invariably or usually, this is called syllogism in dialectic, enthymeme in rhetoric.
○2example (inductive argument)
When we base the proof of a proposition on a number of similar cases, this is induction in dialectic, example in rhetoric.
○3maxim: it is the common rule that is accepted by almost everyone. Sometimes, it is thought to be the premises of enthymeme.
b.pathetic appeals(pathos): they raise emotions favorable to the
rhetorician’s position. The rhetorician tries to persuade the hearers through getting a knowledge of their emotions and adjusting his own speech to the hearers’ emotions.
c.ethical appeals(ethos): they raise emotions favorable to the
rhetorician’s moral character. Aristotle argued that good people are more worthy of believing. In other words, such a way mainly emphasizes the morality of the rhetorician or the orator.
B.inartistic proofs: the rhetorician interprets the existing evidence,
such as the laws, rules, evidences and so on. The rhetorician just needs to make use of them.。