College English Jan 1994

The Body of Persuasion: A Theory of the Enthymeme

Jeffrey Walker

Abstract

he generally prevailing concept of the enthymeme, or the one most frequent in the world of rhetoric and composition studies, tends to define it either as a of elliptical, informal based on probable rather than certain premises and on tacit assumptions shared by audience and rhetor, or as a of Toulmin argument, or as a general mode of intuitive reasoning representable in syllogistic or Toulminian terms, or, most simply, as the juxtaposition of any idea with another that is offered as a reason for believing it. All such thinking starts from Aristotle's famous dicta that the enthymeme is a kind of syllogism or rhetorical syllogism, and that rhetoric is a counterpart of dialectic (Rhetoric 1.1 [1355a]; 1.2 [1356b]; 1.1 [1354a]).' This prevailing definition, however, has recently been put in question (see in particular Conley, Enthymeme; Gage, Theory). And, as we will see, it is inadequate. In what follows, we will first reexamine the primary (and not exclusively Aristotelian) ancient sources from which a more adequate concept of the enthymeme can be derived. Then, we will consider the relevance of that concept to the analysis of modern discourse-specifically, to the analysis of Roland Barthes' The World of Wrestling and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail, both of which appear in popular anthologies used in composition courses, and both of which provide good examples of modern-but unrecognized-enthymeming.

Journal
College English
Published
1994-01-01
DOI
10.2307/378216
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Topics
classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism discourse analysis writing pedagogy argument
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (18)

  1. Ridgeway (2024)
    Conspiracy Theories, Jouissance, and the Aristotelian Enthymeme
    Rhetoric Review
  2. Macagno et al. (2022)
    The Argumentative “Logic” of Humor
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  3. Fleming (2019)
    Fear of Persuasion in the English Language Arts
    College English
  4. Fredal (2018)
    Is the Enthymeme a Syllogism?
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  5. Wetherbee (2017)
    Literacy and Rhetoric as Complementary Keywords
    Literacy in Composition Studies
Show all 18 →
  1. Fredal (2017)
    The Enthymizing of Lysias
    Advances in the History of Rhetoric
  2. Brock et al. (2016)
    Understanding How Algorithms Work Persuasively Through the Procedural Enthymeme
    Computers and Composition
  3. Ross et al. (2016)
    Features of Written Argument
    Argumentation
  4. Fredal (2016)
    Enthymemes in the Orators
    Advances in the History of Rhetoric
  5. Gibbons (2014)
    Beliefs about the Mind as Doxastic Inventional Resource: Freud, Neuroscience, a…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  6. Valiavitcharska (2011)
    Figure, Argument, and Performance in the Byzantine Classroom
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  7. Roberts-Miller (2009)
    Dissent As “Aid and Comfort to the Enemy”: The Rhetorical Power of Naïve Realis…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  8. Danisch (2008)
    Aphorisms, Enthymemes, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. on the First Amendment
    Rhetoric Review
  9. Bordelon (2005)
    Contradicting and complicating feminization of rhetoric narratives: Mary Yost a…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  10. Scott (2002)
    The public policy debate over newborn HIV testing: A case study of the knowledg…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  11. Walzer (1997)
    Aristotle'srhetoric,dialogism, and contemporary research in composition
    Rhetoric Review
  12. Gurak (1995)
    Rhetorical dynamics of corporate communication in cyberspace: the protest over …
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  13. Emmel (1994)
    Toward a pedagogy of the enthymeme: The roles of dialogue, intention, and funct…
    Rhetoric Review

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