ARISTOTLE: RHETORIC

by Aristotle

Aristotle (384 BC–322 BC) was an important Greek philosopher. One of the most influential thinkers in Western culture, he was a disciple of the philosopher Plato. Aristotle developed an entire philosophical system in which he pondered on virtually all existing subjects, such as geometry, physics, metaphysics, botany, zoology, astronomy, medicine, psychology, ethics, drama, poetry, rhetoric, mathematics, and logic. Being one of the oldest and most truly international human disciplines, Rhetoric, like grammar, logic, and poetics, is not an a priori science. The great philosopher Aristotle was one of the first thinkers to study and elaborate on the foundations of Rhetoric, and this homonymous work systematically and deeply encompasses this theme. Rhetoric is a form of communication, a discipline that deals with the principles and techniques of communication. Not all communication, but that which has persuasive purposes. Aristotle's Rhetoric is not the product of the mere idealization of principles born with him and by him, agreed upon to persuade and convince others. It is, instead, the product of the consummated experience of skillful orators, the elaboration resulting from the analysis of their strategies, the codification of precepts born from experience with the aim of helping others to exercise correctly in the techniques of persuasion.

223 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 6, 2024

About the author

Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτέλης; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, and the arts. As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum in Athens, he began the wider Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science.
Little is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical period. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At 17 or 18, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of 37 (c. 347 BC). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, tutored his son Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum, which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls.
Though Aristotle wrote many treatises and dialogues for publication, only around a third of his original output has survived, none of it intended for publication. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. His teachings and methods of inquiry have had a significant impact across the world, and remain a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.
Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. The influence of his physical science extended from late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, and was not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. He influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology, especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church.
Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher", and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher", while the poet Dante Alighieri called him "the master of those who know". His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, and were studied by medieval scholars such as Pierre Abélard and Jean Buridan. Aristotle's influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics, although always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.