6. Early Discussions of Argument Aristotle—Non-artistic vs. artistic means of persuasion. Aristotle—3 means of persuasion Ethos Pathos Logos Aristotle—Enthymeme Cicero (Rhetorica ad Herennium)—5 parts to a complete argument: The proposition The reason The proof of the reason The embellishment The résumé (conclusion)
7. Classical Rhetorical Canon of Invention (Inventio) Logical proof Stasis—locating the starting point of the case/debate. Stasis of fact Stasis of definition Stasis of quality Ethical proof Romans expanded the Aristotelian conception of ethos. Includes all of a speaker’s life/character. Quintilian—a good man speaking well. Goodness becomes the hallmark of Roman conceptions of ethos. Pathetic proof Reinforcement for logos. Roman development: Quintilian’s theory of humor—both content and delivery.
8. The Ramistic Shift The split between logic (argument/invention) and rhetoric (style & delivery) was brought about through the education reforms of Peter Ramus (1515-1572). Ramus was an educational reformer. Argued for an educational system different from the liberal arts model, where rhetoric was one of the seven liberal arts. Split persists for centuries.
9. Whately on Rhetorical Argument Focus on argumentation resurfaces in the works of Richard Whately (1787-1863). Whately limits the scope of rhetoric to argumentation Rhetoric is less concerned with invention/discovery and more with management A priori argument: cause to effect Argument from sign: effect to a condition Three different types of testimony: Undesigned—genuine and simple in orientation Negative testimony—the inability of an advocate to counter/respond to contradiction or refutation Concurrent—several witnesses who don’t interact affirm a similar conclusion
10. Whately on Rhetorical Argument Presumption: “preoccupation of the ground.” A proposition “must stand good till some sufficient reason is adduced against it.” Burden of Proof: rests with the rhetor seeking to refute the presumption.
11. Contemporary Views of Argument Most contemporary understandings of argument come from Stephen Toulmin. Toulmin puts forth a practical, realistic sense of argument as opposed to a formal, logical sense of argument. Basic Toulmin Model
13. The Parts of the Toulmin Model Claims can appear anywhere in the argument or they may be implied (in which case you must identify them by inference). The claim organizes the entire argument; everything else in the argument is related to the claim. The data for the claim provides the evidence, reasoning, opinions, examples, and factual information about the claim that make it possible for the reader to accept it. Support is always explicitly stated and will not have to be inferred. It can appear either before or after the claim and is required to be acceptable and convincing. Qualifier/Modality: Arguments are not expected to demonstrate certainties. Instead, they usually only establish probabilities. Claims are qualified to meet anticipated objections of an audience. Backing: Evidence provided to make warrants acceptable to audiences.
14. The Parts of the Toulmin Model Warrants are the assumptions, general principles, widely held values, commonly accepted beliefs and appeals to human motives that are important parts of any argument. They are not written out as part of the argument, which allows an audience a sense of participation in the argument and thus, they are more likely to buy the argument. The audience supplies warrants; if the audience accepts them, the argument is convincing. Warrants are culture bound; they represent the values, beliefs and training typical of individual cultures. They represent the psychology of an argument, in the sense that they reveal the unspoken beliefs and values of the author and invite the reader to examine his or her own beliefs and make comparisons. Warrants link the support to the claim by enabling the audience to accept or justify particular evidence as proof of a particular claim. They also establish links between the author and the audience; shared warrants result in successfully establishing common ground. Rebuttals establish what is wrong, invalid or unacceptable about an argument, and may also prevent counter-arguments or new arguments which represent entirely different perspectives or points-of-view on the issue. Rebuttals may appear as answers to arguments that have already been stated, or the author may anticipate an audience’s rebuttal and include answers to possible objections before they are stated.
15. Example of Toulmin Model of Argument Congress should ban animal research (Claim #1) because animals are tortured in experiments that have no necessary benefit for humans such as the testing of cosmetics (Data). The well being of animals is more important than the profits of the cosmetics industry (Warrant). Only Congress has the authority to make such a law (Warrant) because the corporations can simply move from state to state to avoid legal penalties (Backing). Of course, this ban should not apply to medical research (Qualifier). A law to ban all research would go too far (Rebuttal). So, the law would probably (qualifier) have to be carefully written to define the kinds of research intended (claim #2).
17. Media/Mediation For most of human history, rhetoric has concerned oratorical presentations/texts. Other forms of human communication were interpersonal, conversational, artistic, poetic—but not rhetorical. Stages of Media Development Novelty/Development Stage: Inventors and technicians. Entrepreneurial Stage: Inventors and investors. Mass-Medium Stage All new forms of communication start out slowly. Usually viewed with suspicion. New communication always borrows from the old model. Marshall McLuhan noted that the content of any new medium is the medium that came before. Plato’s Cave
19. Early Forms of Mediation Writing Music Art Printing/Movable Type First attempts at figurative art – 35,000 and 25,000 B.C.E. Cave paintings at Lascaux, France – 15,000 B.C.E.
20. Photography Photography First known photograph was in 1827 by Niepce—8 hour exposure time. Early photographs by Louis Daguerre, called daguerreotypes (1839). In U.S., early daguerreotypes by M. Brady communicated the reality/brutality of the Civil War to millions. Some commentators worried that they were too real.
22. Motion Pictures Motion in pictures was magical. The Lumiere Brothers were hailed by Renoir as another Gutenberg. Dominant question: “In a moving image, what should do the moving?”
24. Early Cinema 1889—Celluloid was bought by George Eastman (Eastman/Kodak) In the late 19th/early 20th century, Georges Méliès began the development of the narrative film Edwin Porter—first American narrative film in 1902. Nickelodeon (silent film, “shorts”) “Democracy’s theater” Numbers of nickelodeons rise rapidly Thomas Edison moves in to dominate in 1908 with the Motion Picture Patents Company (Trust)
31. From Film to TV Demographic changes after WWII: Average marriage age drops to 19 Families start earlier Baby boom and staying home with kids By the mid-1950s TV replaces radio and movies for family entertainment Movies develop technologies: CinemaScope; Technicolor; etc.
32. From Film to TV Children (4-6), when asked what they liked best: fathers or TV—54% chose TV. TV is 50 years old. It took only 8 years for TV to “penetrate” American homes. TV is on an average of 8 hours a day. Most of the world’s people devote half their leisure time to TV.
33. From Film to TV Television represented the merger of motion picture technology with broadcasting technology. Telegraphs (1840s) and telephones (1870s) were examples of narrowcast communication media. Both were also dependent upon wired transmission.
34. Marconi and the Wireless Guglielmo Marconi: Invented wireless telegraphy (1894) – used code, not voice
35. TV Technology Lee De Forest was instrumental in moving Marconi’s wireless telegraphy to wireless telephony, allowing for the transmission of voice and music. De Forest was particularly known for the invention of the vacuum tube that was the beginning of modern electronics. Set the stage for broadcasting to mass audiences. Different from narrowcasting, or the person-to-person communication of telegraphy and telephony.
36. The Development of Broadcasting RCA, in 1926, purchased AT&T’s telephone group network to form the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) The began the affiliate system of programming—a national network broadcasting to local affiliates who would also provide their own programming. RCA’s monopoly was eventually subject to anti-trust moves by the government. In the 1940s, NBC-blue was sold and became ABC.
37. Understanding Media "Any hot medium allows of less participation than a cool one, as a lecture makes for less participation than a seminar, and a book for less than a dialogue."
38. The Current Media Landscape How would you describe the role of mediation on contemporary strategic discourse? What are your primary patterns of communication consumption? How are the messages you consume mediated? How does your media consumption differ from those who were media consumers 50 years ago? How will media consumers 50 years from now encounter strategic discourse differently from you?
