Download Midkiff Cadet Steven P. Midkiff Maj. Garriot ERH

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Cadet Steven P. Midkiff
Maj. Garriot
ERH-201WX
11/8/16
HR: Purdue OWL, Writing Center, Comments from Maj. Garriot, Peer review in class with
Cadet Pita, see references
One technique that congressmen and senators have used in order to delay or
ultimately terminate the passing of a bill is something called a filibuster. When someone
uses a filibuster they orate for as long as they can in front of the other representatives
debating on issues about the bill or a policy that has been enacted, sometimes skewing
from the actual point in order to take up more time. Eventually when enough
representatives have literally left the building the bill does not have enough
representatives to be voted on and therefore the bill is not signed into law. In 2013, Rand
Paul, a republican senator from Kentucky, filibustered for 13 straight hours in order to
block a vote on drone policy. This is an example of Kairos. Kairos was first developed by
Gorgias and is a word which essentially describes the exact time and place when
someone uses rhetoric in a technae or function of art.We know this technique as a form of
deliberative rhetoric which is a rhetorical concept first developed by Aristotle who lived
in Athens from 367-322 B.C.E. Aristotle developed a very different way to look at
rhetoric by approaching the ideas and concepts of rhetoric previously developed by other
rhetoricians such as Plato and Socrates in a scientific and more organized manor. In one
example he did this by categorizing rhetoric into three different groups: deliberative,
epidictic, and forensic rhetoric. Which to me has made it easier to understand rhetoric and
approach it in a way where someone knows the true meaning of what they are saying.
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Aristotle contributed to culture by describing that modes of persuasion are the only true
constituents of art (Aristotle 1).Which is very different from the rhetoric of the Sophists
who according to Plato believed them to just persuade students of their ideas, of which
may not be the actual truth. Aristotle was influential in the developing of rhetoric by
defining the enthymeme. This is the use of the audience to be knowledgeable of the
argument beforehand to connect dots in between. Aristotle says that writers may use
rhetoric in persuasion but none of them say nothing about the enthymeme and claims that
they very the “substance are rhetorical persuasion” (Aristotle 1). Aristotle’s role as a
developer of the organization of rhetoric and his impact on the Polis (Athens) helped
make rhetoric a more easily approachable concept by defining the means of rhetoric and
the way to find truth through nature using the three types or rhetoric and the artistic
proofs. Aristotle introduces to us the three artistic proofs which are essential which make
up the technae of rhetoric.
Aristotle developed rhetoric different from previous orators in that he categorized
rhetoric into three distinct groups: deliberative, epidictic, and forensic rhetoric. The
reason he did this was in order to approach an argument in a way where the audience and
the setting’s location must be taken into account in order to develop an argument to
persuade the audience. The main reason for this being to be more convincing of the
audience. If you give a speech on history to an audience of mathematicians, they may not
see the significance of an event or concept whereas if they have heard of it before they
may be easier to persuade. Deliberative rhetoric is rhetoric that is used in in the
legislative bodies of the polis which is very important to the demos or of the people in
Athens as this developed a more efficient democracy when arguing policy. In his work
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On Rhetoric, Aristotle seems to define deliberative rhetoric because other writers do not
mention anything about political oratory (Aristotle 2). Aristotle believed this to be
extremely important as the Polis was the most important entity. It was the center for
democracy, since the policy voted on by the people would affect all of the people of the
polis (Herrick 76). This is different from the Sophists who modeled and believed judicial
rhetoric to be the most important (Herrick 76). The second rhetorical setting that Aristotle
developed is epideictic rhetoric. Epideictic rhetoric is oratory that used in a situation or
location where something or someone is being commemorated for its value. An example
of epideictic rhetoric is something like a funeral. This is another situation where the use
of Kairos comes into play. For instance when a certain situation comes about someone
may need to act, often without a lot of time to think in order to persuade an audience to
an idea or inform. This is important as sometimes things will happen on the spot and in
order to succeed in those situations a strong oratory may be required. An example would
be when President Roosevelt gave his famous speech after the attack on Pearl Harbor by
the Japanese. According to Herrick, Aristotle “recognized the importance of ceremonial
speaking as a way of not training speakers or entertaining audiences but reinforcing
public values” (Herrick 77). So as a part of Aristotle’s 3 settings epideictic was not of as
much importance because it led people to consider their opinions of Endoxa or
commonly held beliefs as Herrick states epideictic was meant to prompt an audience to “
think, reflect, or to embrace a new idea” (Herrick 77). The third rhetorical setting which
Aristotle set forward in order to develop rhetoric into a more science of logic is forensic
rhetoric. Forensic rhetoric is essentially judicial rhetoric. Aristotle states that “the arousal
of prejudice, pity, anger and similar emotions has nothing to do with the essential facts
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but is merely a personal appeal to the man that is judging the case” (Aristotle 1). This
reaffirms that absolute truth is gained through justice and shows how important justice is.
By using evidence and appealing to commonly or personal values forensic rhetoric can
lead to the truth. This also reaffirms that Aristotle approaches rhetoric from a more
scientific and rational way by showing how with some emotional appeal or appeal to the
endoxa, and a man’s rational ability he is able to come to a truthful conclusion or verdict.
This shows Aristotle’s impact on the Polis in that in order to diminish the emotional
appeal of man and to prevent it from making an irrational decision there needs to be a
more rules and guidelines in court room rhetoric and more people on the jury.
However, in order to deduce a judgement of truth Aristotle developed his Pisteis.
Pisteis can be defined in many ways but generally Pisteis according to Grimaldi in his A
Note on Pisteis in Aristotle’s Rhetoric are the elements of the argument or the means by
which an argument is persuaded (Grimaldi 10). This is the first meaning of three as
proposed by Grimaldi. The second is that the Pisteis in an argument can be the “method
or technique “whereby one utilizes the material.” (Grimalid 190). The material being the
commonly held belief or Endoxa of the argument. The third definition of the Pistreis as
stated by Grimaldi is that it is the “state-of-mind produced by the audience” (Grimaldi
190). This reaffirms the importance Aristotle put on the Endoxa surrounding the
argument but also highlights the use of his enthymeme as the audience would need to be
partially educated on a subject in order to deduce conclusion through their own
reasoning.
Aristotle was famous for his developing of the organization and categorization of
rhetoric and argument. He is very famous for developing the importance of what are
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called the three Artistic Proofs. Herrick states that Aristotle believed rhetoric to be an art
(Herrick 78), and in essence set out to define what rhetoric as an art actually teaches a
student. This is a called a technae, or an art which has function. From the technae of
argument someone is taught three proofs: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos is essentially
the ethics of the speaker or the attributes that make up that speakers persona. According
to Herrick ethos is the most persuasive (Herrick 81). If you think about this it makes a lot
of sense. A person will listen to someone who they know is honorable and ethical is
known for being a good person. This would make it easier for that speaker to be able to
relate to an audience and eventually convince them of an idea they already are
knowledgeable on, since they can already relate to the endoxa of ethos. When knowing
the speaker is an ethical, by the standards of the endoxa, the audience is more drawn-in
and prone to absorb rather than have the words go through one ear and out the other. The
second proof is pathos. Pathos is essentially the study of the emotion of the argument and
of the speaker. How the speaker presents an argument and how the audience reacts to the
emotion. Herrick states that “a knowledgeable speaker can engage the strong beliefs and
feelings that both influence the reasoning of the audience members and move them to
action” (Herrick 79). So basically when a speaker proposes an argument to the audience;
if they display to emotion of the audience they can most likely persuade them of an idea.
Endoxa is still important here as the emotion of an audience can influence the argument.
Pathos can even be found in the emotion of the setting. Location, or situation of the
speech. For instance in a funeral, or a democratic debate the orator would use language to
display emotion for the meaning of the speech; so in a funeral the speaker could possibly
display sadness or happiness in order to celebrate the person’s life. In a debate or
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campaign speech they would probably speak very patriotically to appeal to the crowd.
One very famous example of this is the campaign slogan for Presidential candidates when
they run for office. Especially in the United States, a small few worded slogan can
essentially sum up a candidate’s purpose and make an impact on people so deep that they
may or may not like the candidate just by hearing the slogan, before they hear any of their
ideas. For instance Donald Trump’s slogan is: “Make America Great Again.” Not only
that, the slogan is probably meant to appeal to the endoxa of the certain targeted audience
the person is trying to get votes from. In Trumps example: Americans, especially those
who say they are tired or fed up with how previous Presidents have run the executive.
The slogan can also be considered as an enthymeme which Aristotle developed. In the
example with Trump’s slogan: “Make America Great Again,” one must be previously be
knowledgeable that apparently America has not been great recently. Where as someone
who lives in a third world country who does not have running water probably thinks the
United States is doing just fine. However with such as examples as the one I just gave,
we can see Aristotle’s impact not only on Athenian culture but in cultures such as our
own, two thousand years in the future. The third artistic proof is Logos. According to
Demidogan, Logos is “the argument the speaker was advancing; that meant appeals
to the intellect or to reason” (Demidogan 193). So this is the purpose behind the
argument, which gives the idea meaning. The purpose of the argument needs to appeal to
the Endoxa of the audience. An example where the logos of an argument can be seen is in
Gorgias’s Encomium of Helen where Gorgias defends Helen of Troy who is blamed, as a
result of her alleged infidelity to her husband, for the Trojan War. In the Encomium
Gorgias state that Helen “could not have resisted the power of logos” and in this context
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he means persuasive words (Herrick 39). Aristotle also defines pathos as being “rational
speech” (On statecraft 281). So Aristotle’s work is felt present here as the logic of the
argument is presented in words and meant to persuade. The logic probably draws from
previous endoxa, and the orator is trying to persuade the idea to other people.
One thing that Aristotle is very famous for is his emphasis and affirmation of the
importance of the Polis. First off in On Statecraft he states that a polis is “Koinonia” or is
a kind of community (On Statecraft 279). This meaning that at the basic level, people
come together to survive. He then goes on to say that female’s and slaves are naturally
inferior to men, and we can see this impact as woman couldn’t vote, hold office, and
were rarely given the opportunity for education in ancient Greece. But to Aristotle this
was not something that was made up but something that is a “natural drive” (Aristotle
279). He then goes on to describe that because the natural order to form community, the
polis is of the natural order and that “man is truly a political animal by nature” (Aristotle
280) meaning that the governance of man through demos, or demos is a naturally
occurring phenomena and with this information we can see how government’s react to
certain things.
To me Aristotle is the epitome of the so called “renaissance man” way before Da
Vinci. He was ahead of his time mastering almost all subjects and developing some of the
foremost ideas oh rhetoric, state, and theoretical argument. We can see his development
is many walks of life in Athens even to the modern world. From the way the Athenian
democracy worked to how we can his same ideas, such as the enthymeme in modern
politics like with the campaign slogan. With his three artistic proofs: ethos, pathos, and
logos; and his three rhetorical settings, deliberative, epideictic, and forensic, the
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Athenians were to understand and utilize the art and magic of persuasion and rhetoric
which is why during a period of time known as the Pax Romana or golden age, were able
to have a very successful democracy as well as an economy too. The ideas of Aristotle
such as the enthymeme, and his development of Kairos and the impact they had on the
Athenian nation-state are still seen even to this day in modern politics and many other
settings around the world.
Works Cited:
- Aristotle. Aristotle; Containing Selections from Seven of the Most Important
Books of Aristotle ... Natural Science, the Metaphysics, Zoology, Psychology, the
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Nicomachean Ethics, On Statecraft, and the Art of Poetry. New York: Odyssey, 1951.
Print.
- Demirdogen, Ulku. "The Roots of Research in (political) Persuasion: Ethos, Pa
Thos, Logos and the Yale Studies of Persuasive Communications." International Journal
of Social Inquiry 2010th ser. 3.1 (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
- “Virginia Military Insitute: No ordinary college. No ordinary life.” Ebrary. n.d.
Web. 8 Nov. 2016. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/vmi/reader.action?docID=5000554&ppg=1
- Grimaldi, William M. A. "A Note on the Pisteis in Aristotle's Rhetoric, 13541356." The American Journal of Philology 78.2 (1957): 188. Web.
- Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction. Boston:
Allyn and Beacon, 2005. Print.
-Jackson, David, and Jerry Mosemak. "Five Famous Filibusters in U.S. History."
USA Today. Gannett, 2013. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
- Aristotle, W. Rhys Roberts, Ingram Bywater, Friedrich Solmsen, and Aristotle.
Rhetoric. New York: Modern Library, 1954. Print.