Purposive Communication 2/Review on Rhetorics
Classical Rhetoric vs. Modern Rhetoric
MODULE 3: Classical Rhetoric vs. Modern Rhetoric
Course Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the module, the students will be able to:
1. Review the classical rhetoric from the previous module
2. Comprehend the discussions of modern rhetoric
3. Discern the difference between the classical rhetoric to modern rhetoric
4. Give conclusion from the arguments presented from the module
Introduction
The tentative emergence of a modern or a new rhetoric has been characterized both by
the attempts to recover and re-examine the concepts or classical rhetoric and to define
itself against the classical tradition. The years since 1959 have witnessed numerous
attempts to define modern rhetoric more fully, attempts that consistently have rested on
distinctions drawn between classical rhetoric and a new system. Focusing primarily on
distinction between the “old” and the “new” rhetoric has led to unfortunate
oversimplifications and distortions. Consequently, its purpose is to survey the distinction
typically between traditional and modern rhetoric, to suggest why these distinctions are
inaccurate and, most importantly, to note the compelling similarities between traditional
and modern rhetoric. These similarities can help clarify the features essentials to any
dynamic theory of rhetoric.
Purposive Communication 2/Review on Rhetorics
Classical Rhetoric vs. Modern Rhetoric
Major Distinction Typically Drawn Between Classical and Modern
Rhetoric
Classical Rhetoric
Man is a rational animal living in a society marked by social cohesion and agreed
upon values.
Emphasis is on logical proofs
Rhetor-audience relationship is antagonistic, characterized by manipulative, one-
way communication.
Goal is persuasion.
Modern Rhetoric
Man is symbol-using animal living in a fragment society.
Emphasis is on emotional proofs
Rhetor-audience relationship is cooperative, characterized by empathetic, two-
way communication.
Goal is communication.
Similarities and Qualifying Distinctions Between Classical and
Modern Rhetoric
1) Both classical and modern rhetoric view man as a language-using animal who
unites reason and emotion in discourse with another.
Qualifying Distinction
Aristole addresses himself primarily to the oral use of language; ours is primarily
an age of print.
Purposive Communication 2/Review on Rhetorics
Classical Rhetoric vs. Modern Rhetoric
2) In both periods rhetoric provides a dynamic methodology whereby rhetor and
audience may jointly have access to knowledge.
Qualifying Distinction
According to Aristotle, rhetor and audience come into a state of knowing which
places them in a clearly defined relationship with the world and with each other
mediated by their language. The prevailing modernist world view compels
rhetoric to operate without any such clearly articulated theory of the knower and
the known.
3) In both period rhetoric has the potential to clarify and inform activities in
numerous related fields.
Qualifying Distinction
Aristotle’s theory establishes rhetoric as an art and relates it clearly to all fields of
knowledge. Despite the efforts of modern rhetoricians, we lack any systematic,
generally accepted theory to inform current practice.
Conclusion
The distinctions concerns not the notion of man, the nature of proof, the speaker-
audience relationship, nor the goal of rhetoric, instead, this distinction concerns the
nature and status of knowledge. For Aristotle, knowledge may be either of the
necessary or the conditional. In addition, Aristotle’s Rhetoric provided a theory that was
intimately related to practice. For the Greeks, and indeed for the Romans who followed
them, rhetoric was a practical art of discourse which played a central role in education
and in the daily affairs of citizens. Both rhetoric views Aristotle’s work which established
a theoretical relationship among belief, language, and action that serve as a way of
knowing and a guide to action throughout a person’s life.
Purposive Communication 2/Review on Rhetorics
Classical Rhetoric vs. Modern Rhetoric
Source:
Ede, Lisa; Lunsford, Andrea. (1982). On Distinction Between Classical and Modern
Rhetoric. Date Retrieved September 27, 2019 from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED220866.pdf
