Aristotle: Aristotle's rhetoric

Aristotle wrote Rhetoric, a foundational text for understanding communication, sometime between 384 and 322 BCE. He defined rhetoric as ‘the ability, in each case, to see the available means of persuasion.’ He also took the traditional rhetoric Plato described as ‘skill through experience,’ observed the reasons for its success, and established rhetoric as a technique. This book is the essence of Greek rhetoric, which greatly influenced the field of ‘rhetoric’ or ‘the art of persuasion.’ Aristotle’s methods of persuasion can be summarized in three elements: the truth and logical validity of the arguments; a speaker’s successful effort to make the audience recognize that the speaker has a trustworthy character, whether male or female; and the emotions through which the speaker enlightens the audience so they will accept a future-oriented and practical view aligned with them. These are ‘Logos,’ ‘Ethos,’ and ‘Pathos.’ Modern rhetoric scholars continue to use his terms as they refer to these three methods of persuasion, even though his definition has been somewhat expanded. In Korea, this field has been known simply as ‘rhetoric.’ But the translator says that, given that the original text Rhetoric has long been popular as a textbook for debaters, orators, and speechmakers, it in fact has a stronger meaning of ‘the art of argument.’ The translator explains that the subtitle was therefore given as ‘The Art of Persuasive Argument,’ for what has been known as ‘rhetoric.’ Calling it ‘the art of argument’ is more rational and appropriate.

Korean title: 아리스토텔레스의 레토릭

Korean author: 아리스토텔레스

Korean publisher: 대원사

ISBN-13: 9788936922641