Aristotle

Born in 384. From the northwestern edge of the Greek Empire in Stagira. Father was physician to King Amyntas of Macedonia.

A Student of Plato
Aristotle came to Athens to study under Plato from the age of 18 to 37. Eventually he classified the branches of knowledge into categories, including: physics, psychology, poetics, logic, and rhetoric.

Tutor of Alexander the Great

Around 340 B.C., when he was over 40, Aristotle returned to his home, Stagira, and he became tutor to the kings son, soon to become Alexander the Great. Alexander, through military campaigns, would later expand the empire of Greece to cover all of the Mideast reaching all the way to India.

Not Forgotten over the Ages

Through the ages Aristotle has remained established as one of the greatest philosophers ever, which is why the famous seventeenth century Dutch artist Rembrandt represented him gazing at a bust of the Greek poet Homer, author of The Odyssey. Four hundred years later, he isnt forgotten, though we have a less sober way of appreciating historical leaders. Here we see him gazing at a more contemporary Homer.

A Definition for Rhetoric

Rhetoric is, in essence, the art of persuasion, and Aristotle defined this art as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." In other words, it is the art of finding the best way to persuade a particular audience in a particular situation.

Aristotles Classical Appeals

Aristotle identified three appeals that can be used to convince the audience. An appeal to ethos (to establish the speakers character and values). An appeal to pathos (to stir emotions). And an appeal to logos (to show the audience the logic and truth of the argument).

The Rhetorical Triangle

Possible Distortion: Abstraction Logos Subject

Speaker Ethos

Audience Pathos Possible Distortion: Propaganda

Possible Distortion: Egotism

When you engage in rhetoric, you are related to the audience and your subject. A wellbalanced argument gives attention to all three points of the triangle, establishing your authority (ethos), drawing the audience emotionally (pathos), and doing justice to the facts (logos). However, if you give too much emphasis to facts, you can fall into a kind of distortion: making the subject seem cold and abstract. If you lean too much toward the audience, you can start to create propaganda. And if you put to much emphasis on your own character and values, you will seem egotistical.