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Aristotle's Rhetoric: An Art of Character
In this major contribution to philosophy and rhetoric, Eugene Garver shows how Aristotle integrates logic and virtue in his great treatise, the Rhetoric. He raises and answers a central question: can there be a civic art of rhetoric, an art that forms the character of citizens? By demonstrating the importance of the Rhetoric for understanding current philosophical problems of practical reason, virtue, and character, Garver has written the first work to treat the Rhetoric as philosophy and to connect its themes with parallel problems in Aristotle's Ethics and Politics. Garver's study will help put rhetoric at the center of investigations of practice and practical reason.
- GenresPhilosophy
333 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1995
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January 9, 2008
Wow, I didn't think I'd find this here. Only book I'm reading right now - part of my research. Very subject specific.
That the ethical appeal is the most persuasive. I find what Aristotle said years ago is what is being echoed today by media reports trying to determine the reason behind Obama's popularity. A political audience is best persuaded to vote for the presidential candidate who reveals good character and practical wisdom. It's all about trust.
Garver makes a strong connection between the three proofs. Here's a good summary of his ultimate claim that I find valuable:
"Character is the most effective and sovereign of the kinds of proof. When we trust a speaker, the real object of trust is the speaker's character . . . What do the speaker's arguments have to do with that? . . . The practical and civic rhetorician needs ethos to find in a given case the available means of persuasion because finding the relevant rhetorical resources is part of what it means to deliberate well. One cannot be fully virtuous or practically wise without deliberating well. . . to deliberate well and so argue well takes phronesis and ethos. Deliberating well takes character. Arguing persuasively means showing that one is deliberating well and therefore showing character" (180).
Garver then is saying that the good rhetor must necessarily be a good man--a classic idea in rhetoric. The man and the message are the same. I think he's saying that someone who can fake it is a sophist. I'm still tryng to figure this one out.
That the ethical appeal is the most persuasive. I find what Aristotle said years ago is what is being echoed today by media reports trying to determine the reason behind Obama's popularity. A political audience is best persuaded to vote for the presidential candidate who reveals good character and practical wisdom. It's all about trust.
Garver makes a strong connection between the three proofs. Here's a good summary of his ultimate claim that I find valuable:
"Character is the most effective and sovereign of the kinds of proof. When we trust a speaker, the real object of trust is the speaker's character . . . What do the speaker's arguments have to do with that? . . . The practical and civic rhetorician needs ethos to find in a given case the available means of persuasion because finding the relevant rhetorical resources is part of what it means to deliberate well. One cannot be fully virtuous or practically wise without deliberating well. . . to deliberate well and so argue well takes phronesis and ethos. Deliberating well takes character. Arguing persuasively means showing that one is deliberating well and therefore showing character" (180).
Garver then is saying that the good rhetor must necessarily be a good man--a classic idea in rhetoric. The man and the message are the same. I think he's saying that someone who can fake it is a sophist. I'm still tryng to figure this one out.
Displaying 1 of 1 review