Page 203 - Gabrijela Kišiček and Igor Ž. Žagar (eds.), What do we know about the world? Rhetorical and argumentative perspectives, Digital Library, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana 2013
P. 203
toric – Martial Art or the Art 203
of Winning the Soul by Discourse?
Language of Politicians vs.
Ethos, Pathos and Logos
Joanna Szczepańska-Włoch, Jagiellonian University
Martial art. The art of winning the soul by discourse (Plato).
A collection of stones piled with the aim of laying a mosaic. The style of the mo-
saic depends on the intentions of the craftsman, the time he lives in; thus every-
one leaves his individual mark (Lichański).
The application of reason to imagination “for the better moving of the will”
(Bacon).
Summary
“All men [...] up to a certain point, endeavour to criticise or uphold an argument, to
defend themselves or to accuse” (Aristotle, 1959: 3). Hence politicians cannot do oth-
erwise and “rhetoric as a technique of argument [...] rather than of ornamentation”,
one of the oldest surviving disciplines (Dixon, 1971: 14), whose insights and rules still
possess the capacity to adjust to the ideological and social change (Cockcroft and
Cockcroft, 2005: 3), is to forward the achievement of the goals politicians work to-
wards. In this study an attempt is made to depict the persuasive dialogue in the func-
tional language, i.e. the language of politicians in the Polish political arena. Prior to
that, structuring the content of the article, a theoretical background and method-
ology are proposed based on The Art of Rhetoric by Aristotle (1959). Three kinds of
proofs, means of persuasion or structural principles by virtue of which the goal is attained,
i.e. ethos, pathos and logos, are addressed. In the part to follow we will analyse several
models of arguments which prevail in the political speeches as well as various means
of rendering ethos and pathos.
Key words: language of politicians, inventio, ethos, pathos, logos
C1. Introduction
lassical rhetoricians defined rhetoric as ars bene dicendi, the art of
speaking well, the art or skill conveying bene aesthetic beauty and
ethical value in dicendi oral and written texts (Wilczek, 2009: 8).
Plato perceived it as the art of leading (“alluring” or “beguiling” – As-
mus, 1986: 156) the soul by means of words – seeing in it its deceptive na-
ture, while Gorgias called it “a means of fascination, peculiar psychago-
gia, spiritual seduction with a magical effect” (Kucz, 2009: 18), holding
of Winning the Soul by Discourse?
Language of Politicians vs.
Ethos, Pathos and Logos
Joanna Szczepańska-Włoch, Jagiellonian University
Martial art. The art of winning the soul by discourse (Plato).
A collection of stones piled with the aim of laying a mosaic. The style of the mo-
saic depends on the intentions of the craftsman, the time he lives in; thus every-
one leaves his individual mark (Lichański).
The application of reason to imagination “for the better moving of the will”
(Bacon).
Summary
“All men [...] up to a certain point, endeavour to criticise or uphold an argument, to
defend themselves or to accuse” (Aristotle, 1959: 3). Hence politicians cannot do oth-
erwise and “rhetoric as a technique of argument [...] rather than of ornamentation”,
one of the oldest surviving disciplines (Dixon, 1971: 14), whose insights and rules still
possess the capacity to adjust to the ideological and social change (Cockcroft and
Cockcroft, 2005: 3), is to forward the achievement of the goals politicians work to-
wards. In this study an attempt is made to depict the persuasive dialogue in the func-
tional language, i.e. the language of politicians in the Polish political arena. Prior to
that, structuring the content of the article, a theoretical background and method-
ology are proposed based on The Art of Rhetoric by Aristotle (1959). Three kinds of
proofs, means of persuasion or structural principles by virtue of which the goal is attained,
i.e. ethos, pathos and logos, are addressed. In the part to follow we will analyse several
models of arguments which prevail in the political speeches as well as various means
of rendering ethos and pathos.
Key words: language of politicians, inventio, ethos, pathos, logos
C1. Introduction
lassical rhetoricians defined rhetoric as ars bene dicendi, the art of
speaking well, the art or skill conveying bene aesthetic beauty and
ethical value in dicendi oral and written texts (Wilczek, 2009: 8).
Plato perceived it as the art of leading (“alluring” or “beguiling” – As-
mus, 1986: 156) the soul by means of words – seeing in it its deceptive na-
ture, while Gorgias called it “a means of fascination, peculiar psychago-
gia, spiritual seduction with a magical effect” (Kucz, 2009: 18), holding
