Aristotle's Rhetoric Analysis

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Thus, a virtuous person must possess the appropriate disposition that can recognize–as if by instinct–the correct course of action. This skill is not, however, simply innate. Rather, we acquire virtue by the development of good habits, and in turn, habit is developed by the appropriate exercise of reason in past choices. Aristotle’s philosophy not only provided man with a system of reasoning, but also touched upon ethics. In his book of Nichomachean Ethics, he advocated a moral code of conduct which he defined as “good living.” He asserted that good living to some degree defied the more restrictive laws of logic, since the real world poses circumstances that can present a conflict of personal values. Consequently, he asserted that there are …show more content…
In a nutshell, Aristotle’s rhetoric can be described as the art of persuasion. Today, Aristotle is known as the father of rhetoric and it is employed in various fields for several reasons ranging from persuasion to manipulation to winning an argument or to simply prove a point. To, Aristotle rhetoric was a form a science, though it is not strictly considered as one today. However, originally the essence of Aristotle’s rhetoric was argument and everything else was considered a mere accessory. Aristotle mentions three different kinds of rhetoric’s and reasons why he thinks its study is important: for political assemblies (deliberative), for ceremonial display (epideictic) and for law courts (forensic). For instance, the political spokesperson will try to appeal to the good of his/her audience and depict his interest in their betterment. The oratorical speaker is concerned with virtue. The lawyer would analyze deviant acts which are against law, and their motives. According to Aristotle, rhetoric can be employed to easily persuade an audience that is less intellectual who fail to comprehend intellectual demonstration, it can be used to defend or maintain justice and sincerity in the society, and it ensures that both sides are considered (Rapp 12). Additionally, Aristotle states that features like the personal character of the speaker, the subject of the argument and how he/she effect the mood of the audience; that is to say, the speaker must seem to have a likable or pleasant sort of character such that he can easily persuade the audience and most importantly he must be able to put his hearers into the right frame of mind. Aristotle states that there are two vital tools to be employed in argumentation: enthymeme i.e., basically an argument that can be logically simplified to a syllogism) and examples (Rapp 20-22). He also included a list of nine types of fallacious reasoning, such as

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