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last.updated 5.31.05

Ethos

Purpose

Perhaps no single figure has had as much influence on rhetoric's disciplinary character as Aristotle.

– Janet M. Atwill

The purpose of today's lesson and activity is to understand why Aristotle had such an influence on rhetoric's disciplinary character. We will establish both Aristotle's historical background and to develop a foundation upon which to understand his rhetorical theory. ALthough the introduction to On Rhetoric covers many of the topics and principles we will discuss this semester, we will focus on his discussion of rhetoric and ethos today. Our discussion of Aristotle will also give us an opportunity to work on the Rhetorical Principles Table together.

History

Aristotle

• 384 - 322 BCE
• Plato's Academy
  • Rival with Isocrates (another academy) who differed rhetorically, but not politically
  • Left for Plato's Academy in 367
  • Left Academy (347) after Plato's death
• His Work
  • Political ties to Macedonia; was Alexander's tutor
  • Made careful distinctions between metaphysics, physics, ethics, and rhetoric Theoretical knowledge: highest; essential to true wisdom
  • Practical knowledge: observes human behavior with the goal of "happiness" or "the good life" (e.g., politics and ethics)
  • Productive knowledge: techne (or art); studies the potential "outside itself"; relies on audience (e.g., medicine, architecture, military strategies, seafaring, poetics, & rhetoric)
  • On Rhetoric probably a collection of multiple sources; thus the inconsistencies

Discussion

• According to Aristotle, what is rhetoric?
• What is dialectic? And how, according to Aristotle, does it differ from rhetoric?
• If we were to create a map, with the x-axis representing art to knowledge and the y-axis representing plausible to probable, where would you position Aristotle's understanding of rhetoric?
• How does Aristotle describe ethos?
• On page 38, Aristotle says, "And this should result from the speech , not from a previous opinion that the speaker is a certain kind of person." Does this tenet apply to a modern use of rhetoric? Why or why not?

Rhetorical Principles Table

Looking at both the introduction and his discussion on ethos, we will work together to start filling out the Rhetorical Principles Table for Aristotle's rhetorical theory.

Modern Topio for Ethos

We will discuss some of the possible topio that can be used for a modern understanding of ethos. I will ask for volunteers to read their submissions and then we will discuss them. We will also discuss...

• What did you learn about topoi during the process of composing your own?
• How useful are topio for understanding the person a rhetor may be talking about? for understanding the rhetor? the text?