Rhetoric Society Quarterly Sep 1989

Richard M. Weaver and the rhetoric of a lost cause

John Bliese

Abstract

building on some common ground with the audience. Aristotle's concept of the enthymeme as a fundamental source of persuasion requires the audience to grant or accept the premises of the rhetor. Aristotle says that a speaker should start from opinions accepted by our judges or by those whose authority they recognize (1395b). Similarly, for Kenneth Burke the key term in rhetoric is identification, which is established between a persuader and an audience by finding some substance or underlying ground in common (consubstantiality) (I 969, 19-23). But what if there is little or nothing in common between a speaker and an audience? What if the audience does not accept the value system of the speaker? How could a speaker proceed in such an extreme case? As Wayne Booth explains, classical rhetoric offers little help, for it assumes

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
1989-09-01
DOI
10.1080/02773948909390858
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Topics
classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism argument
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