Introducing Philosophy 21 Rhetoric.docx
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Introducing Philosophy 21 Rhetoric.docx
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IntroducingPhilosophy21Rhetoric
IntroducingPhilosophy21:
Rhetoric(修辞学)
Inthisessaywelookatrhetoric,introducingthesubjectandsomeofitstraditionaldivisionsbeforeprovidingaguidetocommonrhetoricalfigures(人物)andtheiruses.Asweprogress,wewillseewhyrhetoricisofcrucialimportanceinunderstandingphilosophyandindeedanyareaofinquiry(探究).
WhatisRhetoric?
Therehavebeenmanydifferentdefinitionsofrhetoricoveritslonghistory,whichstretchesbackto(回溯到)theAncientGreeksandRomansinparticular.However,itisgenerallyunderstoodasthestudyofwritingandspeakingeffectively;thatis,toappreciatehowlanguageisatworkwhenwewriteorspeakitandemployanylessonslearnedinmakingourownwritingandspeakingbetter.Whatwemeanby"better"isitselfupfordebate,ofcourse,anditisherethatthenegativeconceptionofrhetoriccomesintoplay–thatofrhetoricastheartofpersuasion,whereconvincingothersisseenasthehand-wavingandsophistry(诡辩)thatisusedinplaceofreasonedargument.
Thisdistinction(区别)betweencontentandform–whatissaidandhowwesayit–wasemphasisedbyAristotleaslogos(理性)andlexis(词语),orwhatiscommunicatedandhowrespectively.Ultimately,though,thisdistinctionproveduntenable(站不住脚的),basedonaviewoflanguageaslittlemorethanthemeansbywhichweshareourthoughtsandfailingtotakeintoaccounttheinseparability(不可分离性)ofideasandthelanguageusedtoexpressthem.Indeed,howwesaythingsispreciselythewayinwhichweensurethatourdesiredmeaninghasbeentransmittedtoothers,sotherecanbenopassingonofideaswithoutalsotakingintoaccountlexis.
TheDivisionsofRhetoric
Rhetorichasbeenstudiedforverymanyyearsasaresultofitscrucialimportance,andanumberofdivisionshavebeenmade.Thefirstwasatripartite(分成三部分的)distinctionbetweentheappealsthatarepossiblewhenspeakingorwriting,namely:
∙Logos(理性),ortheappealtoreason;
∙Pathos(同情),ortheappealtoemotion;and
∙Ethos(气质),ortheappealtocharacter.
Noticethatherewecanimmediatelyseewhythecomplaintthatanargumentis"mererhetoric"ismisguided:
anargumentcancontainmoreorlessreasoningandalotorlittleemotivelanguage,butbotharerhetoricintendedtoconvince.Forethos,Aristotleconsideredanappealtocharactertobeanyattemptonthepartofthespeakerorwritertoestablishhisorherknowledgeofthesubjectunderdiscussionandtheirbenevolence(仁爱)towardstheaudience,bothprovidingcredibilityforwhatwouldfollow.
Thisbringsustothenextdivision,alsothree-way,ofrhetoricinthelargersense.Wedistinguishbetween:
∙Kairos(时机),ortheoccasionsforspeech;
∙Audience,orwhowillhearorreadit;and
∙Decorum(礼仪),orfittingwordsandsubjecttogether.
Kairosincludesconsiderationslikethecontexts(环境)foraspeechorpieceofwriting,whileaudiencelooksatwhereadiscourse(演讲)maytakeplace.Traditionallyoratory(演讲术)wassplit(分离)againintothree:
judicial(司法的)(orforensic),deliberative(立法的)(orlegislative)andepideictic(指示的)(orceremonial).Differentrequirementslikethesewouldanddooccasiondifferentrhetoricalapproaches.Decorum,lastly,dealswithmakingappropriateuseofrhetoric,dependingonbothkairosandaudience.
Therewerealsofivecanonsofrhetoric:
∙Invention,orcomingupwithsomethingtosayinthefirstplace;
∙Arrangement,ortheorderofadiscourse;
∙Style,orhowitissaid;
∙Memory,orhowtheoratorrecallsinformation;and
∙Delivery,orthewayinwhichthediscourseinperformed.
Someofthesearestraightforwardbutothersarequitesubtle.Arrangement,forexample,involvedthestudyofhowtoputtogetheraspeechofpieceofwriting.Shouldwestartwiththeconclusionoronlygiveitattheclose?
Doweprovidecounterargumentsseparatelyorincludetheminthemainbodyofourownargument?
Doweneedtosetthescene,asitwere,orshouldthediscussionbeformalandmovestraighttothemeatofit?
Andsoon.Likewisememoryincludednotjustthepowersofrecollectionofthespeaker(afterall,doweusenotesortrytorememberallthecontent,whichoftenlooksmuchmoreimpressive?
),butalsoestimatesofhowmuchtheaudiencewouldbeabletokeepinmind.Isitnecessarytopointlistenerstoremarksmadeearlier,forinstance,orcanweassumetheywouldrecallthemunaided?
Wheninthediscourseshouldremindersbeplaced?
Andsoonagain.Lastly,thedeliveryofaspeechhasagreatdealtodowithitsreception,asanyonefamiliarwithcomedianswillknow.Doesasituationcallforaseriousapproach,orwouldsomejokesbewelcome?
Willadead-panvoiceworkorshouldstressandemphasisbeplacedonwords,phrasesandparticularideas?
Ifso,whichandwhen?
Allthesethingshavetheirroletoplayinspeakingandwriting,hencetheimportanceofthestudyandrhetoric.Forourpurposes,rhetoricisinvolvedinphilosophicalargumentsanddiscussionjustasitisinevitableinallotherareas,aswesaid.Withthatinmind,wecannowanalysespecificrhetoricaldevicesthathaveoccurredoftenenoughthattheiruseandeffectiswellunderstood.
AGuidetoRhetoricalDevices
Innoparticularorder,thefollowingguidegivescopiousinstancesofrhetoricaldevicesatworkandattemptstoexplainbothhowtheyworkandwhyweshouldbeinterested.Bytheendweshouldhaveincreasedourabilitytospottheminthespeechorwritingorothersandhencedeterminehowwelltheyhavebeemployed,aswellaslearninghowtousethemourselves.
Expletives
Wetendtothinkofexpletivesassynonymouswithswearwordsbutthelatterarejustoneexampleofthisrhetoricaldevice.Anexpletiveisawordorshortphrasethatweusetolendemphasistowordsoneithersideofit.Comparethesetwosentences,forexample:
∙Whatwefindisthatthenewtaxlawisfundamentallyunjust.
∙Whatwefind,then,isthatthenewtaxlawisfundamentallyunjust.
Bothimpartthesameinformationbutnoticethattheexpletiveinthesecond(theword"then")signalstothereaderthatasummationofpriordiscussioniscoming,orthataconclusionistobegiven.Thecontrastisevenmoreapparentifwespeakthemaloud:
inthesecond,again,theexpletiveprovidestheemphasisandactuallyforcesustoslowdownaswesaythewords,providingacueforanylistenertonotethattheimportantpointhasbeenreached.
Sometimesanexpletivecanoccuratthestartofasentence:
∙Inbrief,youshouldbemorecareful.
Onotheroccasions,althoughlessoften,itcanbeplacedattheend:
∙Theresultwastobeexpected,ofcourse.
Inboththeexpletiveaddsapowertothestatementsthatwouldotherwisebelacking(totestthis,tryrepeatingthemaloudasbefore).Theapparentlysuperfluous"ofcourse"inthesecondmakesthestatementemphaticandsuggeststothelistenerorreaderthatitwassostraightforwardastohardlybeworthinvestigating,whilethefirstletsusknowthataprécisistofollow.
Expletivesaretypicallyusedinprinteddialoguesooftenthatwebarelynotice:
∙"WhatImeant",hesaid,"wasthatyoushoulddosomethingaboutit."
Ifweexperimentwiththeplacementoftheexpletivewecanseehoweasyitistoruintheeffect,orevenmakethelinedifficulttoreadatall:
∙"WhatImeantwasthat",hesaid,"youshoulddosomethingaboutit."
∙"WhatI",hesaid,"meantwasthatyoushoulddosomethingaboutit."
∙"WhatImeantwasthatyoushould",hesaid,"dosomethingaboutit."
Andsoon.Onceweunderstandhowexpletivesworkandhowtousethem,wecanbegintospotthemeverywhere–inyourhumblenarrator'smusings,forexample.Weshouldexpecttofindthemwheneverawriteristryingtoleadusthroughachainofreasoning,say,butperhapsbemorewarywhenweobservetheminapoliticalspeech.
Similes,AnalogiesandMetaphors
Oneofthemostfamiliardevicesinrhetoric,asimileinvolvescomparingtwothingsthatsharearesemblanceinatleastoneway–usuallyinvividlydescriptiveterms:
∙Theirpassingcutthroughthedefencelikearapier.
∙Hersmilewaslikesunshine,warmingmetothecore.
∙Hewasassilentasachurchmouse.
∙Astherockstandsfast,sowashiswillresolved.
Therearesomanyexamplesofsimilesthatitwouldbeimpossibletolistthemallhere,buttheyofteninvolvewordssuchas"like","as"or"does",andtheirnegations.Thedangerisusingthemisthatsometimesthecomparisonmaynotbecloseenoughoraccurateatall:
∙Weneedacademicconsensusliketheveryairwebreathe.
∙Asthecrusaderswereshackledandbound,soaretheguardiansofthefreedomofspeechtoday.
Emotivesimilescanhaveaconsiderableeffectbutoverdoingthemcanresultinincredulity,especiallywhenimagesofwarfareorastruggleagainstoppressionareinvoked.Theyarecloselyrelatedtoanalogies(andindeedthesemaybeemployedtogether),whichalsoinviteacomparisonbutuseittoexplainadifficultconceptorideabyreferencetoasimplerone:
∙Themanwhokeepssilentinthefaceoftyrannyisasguiltyashimwhonoticesafireandfailstoraisethealarm.
Thedifficultytobeavoided,however,isofferingfalseanalogies,whichcanbefallacious.Nevertheless,aspeakerorwritinghopingtoswayopinionmayresorttotheseandhencethequestionwemustaskourselvesis:
arethetwo(ormore)thingscomparedactuallyanalogous?
Wheninsteadwebelievethattwosituationsaresocloseastobeidentical,wecanappealtometaphors:
∙Thelackofsubtletyisthisdiscussioniskillingallpossibilityofcompromise.
∙Thisdebateisawarandwemustuseallweaponsatourdisposal.
∙Natureisbeauti
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