Rhetoric

Ha senso commentare uno dei capisaldi del sapere occidentale? Probabilmente non da parte mia. A ogni modo, provo a guardare a questo testo dal punto di vista di un contemporaneo interessato a capire come rivolgersi adeguatamente ai propri interlocutori (per esempio perché si è chiamati a farlo per lavoro) e la prima lezione - fra le tante - che posso portare a casa è che l'osservazione dei comportamenti (base per giungere a una conoscenza delle emozioni e dei bisogni umani) viene prima del (pur necessario) padroneggiare tecnica e stile.

Some of this book reads like a manual for living with what seem to be the simplest instructions imaginable. Wake up, lift the cover, put your feet on the floor, stand up, go to the bathroom, etc. Yet when one thinks about this being some of the earliest writings in recorded history, this instruction manual in how to be persuasive in speech and in writing states exactly what we teach our university students today. And therein lies the simplicity that belies its brilliance. This is my first cover-to-cover reading of Rhetoric. There are many references to Topics, Poetics, and Politics, and other works on rhetoric by other authors, but the reading of this work has inspired me to embark on a proper reading of the Great Books series, as set show more out by Hutchins and Adler at the University of Chicago, and I have begun at the beginning with Homer's Iliad. I recall a commentary on Darwin - George Bernard Shaw I think it was - that ran something like "once Darwin had proved, through systematic use of the evidence, that natural selection was a very real phenomenon, he did it over again with even more examples to the point of tedium". But Aristotle was the original. Simply reading this points me to the problem with all of my rejected papers - they are not systematic. I recall the guidance of my old professor: "When it is so simple it sounds too easy, then it is good". I also recall Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "[etc]...has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away". Aristotle points to this and, much like Darwin, points to it again and again so as to remove all doubt. While reading Aristotle is much like my reading of J.S. Mill and Trotsky, as in it feels like I am reading my own knowledge in a book. Not because I am so knowledgeable, but because these authors permeated my education. Now, at least, I can see clearly where that education came from, and I am, strange as it may seem, excited about reading the Great Books I am yet to read. show less

There is a lot of good stuff here (obviously-it's Aristotle, man!) and it almost feels wrong not giving this 5 stars, but alas...I just didn't find all of it very interesting. I struggled to finish this, mostly because there were some great points on rhetoric surrounded by mountains of definitions that don't really seem to define rhetoric as it is today. I'm sure there are some more modern texts that get at the same ideas in a more modern context-but we all owe a lot of that to Aristotle.

Anyway, a good book that any scholar of philosophy/english/rhetoric/etc. should read for the academic and classical value alone.

This is an excellent book, but not an easy one to read. The translation is excellent, but the lessons are deep.

When I started the book, I was not sure how the early sections pertained to rhetoric. But you must hang in there. As you read, everything starts to come together.

If you are not skilled in rhetoric, like me, then this book is invaluable. Read it, study it, and then apply it.

It is easy to see why the book has been influential through the ages. This is a testament to Aristotle's wisdom and knowledge.

An interesting take on rhetoric from the master logician himself. Aristotle's points are complex and multi-layered, and the text is somewhat antiquated, but this is still a landmark document in the history of non-fiction, philosophy, and rhetoric itself.

I recommend it.

Um daqueles livros de Aristóteles que se parece com uma lista interminável em um estilo de notas ou esboços, a Retórica consiste em 3 livros, o segundo deles certamente um tratado das paixões (o maior deles, mais relevante que a Ética de Spinoza, segundo Heidegger e Danto), o primeiro uma introdução ao caráter verdadeiro dessa arte, que trabalha o persuasivo existente nos argumentos, através de enthymemas, sendo irmã à dialética (que prefere o verdadeiro ao verossímil e o juízo lógico à indução); seguido de ponderações sobre os gêneros, a importância do governo etc. Termina com o terceiro livro, abordando dicção e as partes dos discursos, o uso de metáfora etc etc.

This book is a review of the types and ways of speaking. It is somewhat of a difficult read in that it does not flow well. This may be the difficulty in translating something from the Greek that was used originally by Aristotle as his class notes. There are worthwhile nuggets of insight and instruction. Maybe a modern day scholar has taken this work and improved upon it. If anyone knows of such a book please let me know.