Rhetoric and the Public Sphere- Class Notes 2.4.

2010

The Art of Rhetoric

Difference between art (techne) and art of poetics

Mimesis = imitation; how we learn about truth

Does knowledge matter?

What kind of knowledge can you lead people to?

Intuition-what you know that is

Empirically- verify what is true, have knowledge through supposition, then

conclusions about environment

Science can’t give you a reason to do something

Every other question is a rhetorical question

e.g. abortion doctor

must presuppose abortion is right

Chief use of communication is to lead us to knowledge

No absolute in vast majority of communication

Rhetoric allows us to seek what knowledge we can gain

Aristotle’s Definition of Rhetoric- The ability (dynamis-certain power people have to

do something) to find (discover) in any given situation the available means of
persuasion

Poetic art- universal truths of all humanity

Rhetoric is functional; goal-oriented form of comm.

Poetics truths reflective of human culture/comm.

*single thing you need to know: power of rhetoric is not power of persuasion; it is
the power of observation (always based on this)

1st thing in marketing analysis

Observe audience and situation they exist in

Then you persuade them

 So you start strategizing

Whole time: watching them + listening

Structure my message to reach human element:

Animal’s aren’t logical

Human rationality

Sense of self

Emotion; human beings are emotional creatures

Proofs- the means of persuasion

Artistic Proofs- proofs constructed in the presentation of one’s message; they

appeal to different aspects of the audience

3 Artistic Proofs:

Ethos- the appeal to values (identifies w/ speaker’s credibility)

Pathos- putting the audience in a “certain frame of mind”; commonly the

appeal to emotion (you want to make the message fell true)

Logos- appeal to reason, primarily through the enthymeme

enthymeme- logical structure of persuasion (guides your actions)

Inartistic Proofs- proofs that exist in the situation and are useful in building your
case

What exists outside message; bring it in to support your message (e.g.

illustrations)

3 Inartistic Proofs:

eyewitness:- lends authority to message (Could have biases though)

examples- illustrations; scientific evidence (support some sort of conclusion)

maxims- generally accepted beliefs

Enthymeme (3 parts)

Like a syllogism in that it has a rational structure w/premises and

conclusions. However….
 Its premises and conclusions are not certain (not empirically verifiable; e.g.
you should eat chicnken n waffles instead of a sandwich). So…

The audience often supplies some of the accepted or presupposed premises

of an enthymeme.

Types of Oratory and the settings appropriate for each

Forensic-Judicial setting; reasoned arguments supporting claims of fact (guilt or

innocence)

Epideitic- ceremonial setting (e.g. funerals, Grammys); speeches issuing value

claims assigning praise or blame

Deliberative- legislation setting; speeches offering policy claims asserting what

should be done, what is best or most advantageous

Common Lines of Argument

Topoi- the special lines of argument or specific claims, necessary for a given
argument in a given setting (e.g .a business speaker should know the company’s
strengths, weaknesses, goals, etc.; they would not talk about children’s games)

Koinoi topoi- common values everyday all the time; Common universal topoi;
universal lines of argument; line of argument that are applicable to all settings