Rhetoric
Three books analyze means of persuasion, audience emotions, character, style and speech arrangement. Rhetoric becomes the ability to discern what may persuade in a particular situation.
Understanding the text
Its setting includes courts, assemblies and civic ceremonies, where decisions often require reasoning without demonstrative certainty.
Key points
- 01
Proofs
The speaker’s character, the audience’s dispositions and argument constitute distinct dimensions of persuasion.
- 02
Enthymeme
Rhetorical deduction uses probabilities and signs; defining it solely as an incomplete syllogism oversimplifies the account.
- 03
Emotions
Anger, fear and pity depend on judgments about situations and affect how audiences evaluate reasons.
How to read it
Analyze a real speech by distinguishing argument, credibility and emotion, then ask what makes its persuasion justified.
Editions & sources
- Consult the reference 1classics.mit.edunew tab
- Consult the reference 2plato.stanford.edunew tab
- Consult the reference 3classics.mit.edunew tab
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗