The Rhetoric & Poetics of Aristotle provide the thoughts and philosophies of the ancient Greek philosopher, but serve to identify certain elements in rhetoric, persuasion, creative writing, and communication that are relevant to modern-day, regardless of language. The first aspect that advanced my theoretical knowledge is the fundamental understanding of rhetoric. Aristotle defines it as the ability to see what is potentially persuasive under all circumstances, even if one is not able to convince everybody. Rhetoric is an art, it can be used for deceit, but it is also needed for good, because even possessing the most clear fundamental truth, without rhetoric one cannot convince others of it. The next aspect are the three means of technical persuasion that Aristotle establishes, meaning it relies on method and must be provided by the speaker. The three means are 1) the character of the speaker (ethos), including their credibility, 2) the emotional state of the audience (pathos), and 3) the logic and strength of the argument (logos). Finally, there is the concept of enthymemes, rhetorical syllogisms which can be used as proof in persuasion. It consists of taking certain propositions that are true and using induction to build the argument that something else is true as well, serving as proof in a rhetorical persuasion.
The primary question guiding the scholarly inquiry of the book is what role does rhetoric serve in communication and how it can be used through various means in the theory of persuasion in the context of human interaction, emotions, and thought patterns? Aristotle identifies four types of metaphors 1) from genus to species, 2) from species to genus, 3) from species to species, and 4) from analogies. The latter is considered the most important in the context of enthymemes. Aristotle indicates that metaphors are indicative of and contribute to cognitive function, they contribute to learning as one struggles to understand and draw out its meaning. I would argue that Aristotle is largely correct on his position on the role of rhetoric and use the concept of metaphor. In order to comprehend something at a deeper level, it needs to be examined not just from a straightforward view of the objective meaning of the word or concept, but its more subjective and creative perspectives of indirect meanings. In the end, it is these different perspectives which contribute to the rich human rhetoric and language. This is necessary to feed more meaning to the language used and contributes to the ability of rhetoric in interpersonal communication.
Rhetoric is used virtually everywhere in some form, ranging from teaching to selling to sharing key information to guide policy. Communication is vital than ever before, especially in the complex modern world that was much different from Aristotle’s. The strategies and elements of rhetoric offered in this book, such as the means of persuasion, concepts of proof in syllogisms, and patterns of argumentation are necessary for communication among human beings and sharing of information to be accepted by others. In the classroom, the education process goes beyond the stream of data going from teacher and textbooks to the students. Rhetoric is applied to convince students to analyze and understand that information, and learning to apply it and draw connections. Similarly, in the market, rhetoric is utilized for persuasion and conviction as companies strive to acquire customers by suggesting that their product is better than the others, or that a customer should engage in their service. Human interaction is a continuous communication and going back and forth in the rhetoric of persuasion. It can be seen in literature, advertisements, politics, marketing, and even seemingly logical and neutral areas such as sciences. Rhetoric is needed to move audience in order to inform, persuade, or motivate through various messages, images, and modes of communication, without which humans would be helpless.
Work Cited
Aristotle. The Rhetoric and the Poetics of Aristotle. Translated by Rhys Roberts and Ingram Bywater, Modern Library, 1984.