SPCM 201 1st Edition Lecture 7 Current LectureAristotle: On RhetoricClark A 101 5-6 Study Session Exam Format Multiple 25 questions 3 points = 75% Short answer Select 2 (12 points each) or 3 to answer (8 points each) 24% of test grade 1 point for name on test  100 points x 2 = 200 points OVERALL  20% of grade  Aristotle—384-322 B.C.E.  Most famous student of Plato Suffered from speech impediment—not a speaker Taught classes in rhetoric at Plato’s Academy Still believes in absolute TRUTH… …but recognizes it is not always available or easily conveyed Therefore, rhetoric is a practical skillWhat is different about the form of Aristotle’s work as compared to Plato’s On Rhetoric is a “Textbook” …of sorts  It was never intended to be a textbook  Class notes reworked by Aristotle’s students and others  Has chapters, headings, key words, etc.  More organized then Plato Often treated as a how-to manual  Also used as a guideline for evaluating a good speech For better or for worseThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.Why is it fait to say Aristotle picks up where Plato left off? The very first line of On Rhetoric:  “Rhetoric is the counterpart of Dialectic.”  A.k.a. rhetoric and philosophy must be used together Dialectic is not exactly the same as philosophy  “Counterpart” suggests rhetoric is the lesser of the twoWhy is Aristotle critical of existing treaties on rhetoric?  They are incomplete “A small portion of that art” Say nothing about enthymemes  Deal mainly with non-essentials Overreliance on emotion  “One might as well wrap a carpenter’s rule before using it.”  Excessively focused on using rhetoric in court (forensic) Why is rhetoric useful? Why is rhetoric useful?  1. Responsible for ensuring the TRUTH WINS 2. Even if you know the TRUTH, not every audience can comprehend it Rhetoric helps explain complex ideas (translation) 3. Teaches us how to argue both sides of an argument (diddoi logoi)  How does this differ from the Sophist?  4. Rhetoric is about self-defenseWhat is rhetoric?  Aristotle’s Definition “The art of finding in any given situation the available means of persuasion.” Definition Break-Down “Persuasion” “in any given situation” Make assessments before giving your speech- People surroundings “Art”  “Of finding”  Different resources “the available means” Recognizing there are many different ways to persuade someoneWhat are to modes of persuasion? The modes of persuasion  Inartistic proof “such things as are not supplied by the speaker but are there at the outset.”- Witnesses- Evidence “under torture”- Contracts These are merely USED by the speaker  The modes of persuasion (cont.) Artistic proof “such [things] as we can ourselves construct by means of the principles of rhetoric”- Ethos- Pathos- Logos These are INVENTED by the speakerWhat are the three kinds of proofs? (pistis) Ethos “achieved by the speaker’s personal character” “when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible.” Good > Bad character Achieved through words spoken (not prior experience) Pathos Emotion Pathetic appeal “when the speech stirs their emotions” Our judgments change as our feelings do Rhetoric can be used to change the audience’s feelings Too many writers on rhetoric make pathos “the whole of their efforts” Logos Persuasion through “proof or apparent proof” “Effected through speech itself” Rationality  Explain things in a logical way Through a “persuasive argument suitable to the case in question” Rationality, or “to reason