Rhetorical device

"rhetoric" = "the art of use of language for persuasion"

• see page entry for Rhetoric

Rhetoric

• "the art of persuasion"
• one of the three classical arts of discourse (see below)
• Aristotle defined rhetoric as
  • "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion."
• generally, rhetoric is the study of techniques to inform, persuade, or motivate (an audience)
• In the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, Steve Fuller defines rhetoric as:

Rhetoric is employed in both act and perception, in private thought and public communication. It is a means of communication as well as a theory for understanding and criticizing itself and the alternative means of communication. (p. 237)

Trivium - "Three Arts of Discourse"

• "trivium" = "the place where three roads meet"
• Sister Miriam Joseph's explanation of the Trivium:
  • grammar for expression of thought
    • the thing as-it-is-symbolized
      • symbols = letters and words
  • logic for the art of thought
    • the thing as-it-is-known
  • rhetoric for communication
    • the thing as-it-is-communicated
    • use of language and logic to persuade
• the trivium became the basis of the medieval "seven liberal arts"
  • the trivium (3) and its extension in the "quadrivium" ("four ways") of astronomy, arithmetic (mathematics), geometry, and music
    • why arithmetic and geometry are distinct?
      • arithmetic or mathematics = pure numbers (i.e. conceptual)
      • geometry = number in space (i.e. distance, relation, etc.)
        • studies the properties of distance, size, shape and relative positions

Grammar

• the mechanics of language
  • including the "law of identity"
    • that states "a horse is a horse, and not a man"
    • see Plato's Cratylus

Logic

• the mechanics of thought
  • i.e., analysis, deduction, argument
• also, "dialectic"
  • = refers to reasoned argumentation, usually between two or more people who debate or discuss a topic with the aim to establish a truth

Rhetoric

• application of language and logic for persuasion
• Aristotle saw rhetoric as
  • "a combination of the science of logic and of the ethical branch of politics"
  • thus it was designed for understanding, discovery and argumentation
  • as both argumentation and ethics, rhetoric is truth-seeking
• the art of rhetoric was especially important to the ancient Greeks who developed democracy and civic participation
  • rhetoric was a political tool and valued as an essential element of civic society

Persuasion

• persuasion is the art of influencing another person's attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, choices, intentions or motivations
• persuasion is distinct from coercion
  • as such, persuasion marks the fundamental distinguishing element in democratic as opposed to totalitarian society
  • coercion is the use of violence, threats of violence, or some form of repercussion in order to control or shape behavior, beliefs, or ideas
  • forms of changing belief that are coercive include (and thus are not persuasion)
    • indoctrination
    • brainwashing
    • propagandism
    • censorship
• persuasion requires
  • reciprocity
    • as Steve Fuller notes, "rhetoric judges and is judged, it moves and is moved."
  • honesty
    • which is why Aristotle was so concerned about "ethics"
  • logic
  • language
• forms of persuasion
  • logic
  • rhetorical devices (see below)
  • heuristics
    • problem solving or argumentation that is not precise but yields an approximate truth or reality
    • heuristics are rational but not perfectly logical
    • includes:
      • educated guess
      • trial and error
      • applied experience (things turn out as expected from prior experience)

Rhetorical devices list

apophasis

• also called "Paralipsis"
• author mentions an argument or fact in order to deny it or to deny using it
• also used to mention something indirectly
• = a form of irony
  • may be seen as a "passive-aggressive" argument
    • in that it states something while apologizing for having stated it
• examples:
  • "But we won't talk about my opponent's disastrous married life"
  • "It would be a breach of decorum to mention base morals such as she embodies"
• actual use of paralipses:
  • during Prohibition (when sale of alcohol was banned), a grape juice company included this paralipsis on its grape concentrate packaging:
    • "After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for twenty days, because then it would turn into wine."
  • during the 1984 presidential debates, Ronald Reagan, who was much older than his opponent, stated,
    • "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

• see Apophasis - Wikipedia

paralipsis

• see Apophasis