INI201H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Dialectic
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It is not hard," says aristotle, in his rhetoric, quoting socrates, "to praise athenians among athenians. " He has been cataloguing those traits which an audience generally considers the components of virtue. They are justice, courage, self- control,poise or presence, broad-mindedness, liberality, gentleness, prudence and wisdom for purposes of praise or blame, the rhetorician will assume that qualities closely resembling any of these qualities are identical with them. For instance, to arouse dislike for a cautious man, one should present him as cold and designing. Or to make a simpleton lovable, play up his good nature. Or speak of quarrelsomeness as frankness, or of arrogance as poise and dignity, or of foolhardiness as courage, and of squandering as generosity. Also, he says, we should consider the audience before whom we are thus passing judgment: for it"s hard to praise athenians when you are talking to lacedaemonians. Here is perhaps the simplest case of persuasion.
