Page 30 - Žagar, Igor Ž. 2021. Four Critical Essays on Argumentation. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 30
four critical essays on argumentation
common’. Some of them offer strategic advice, for example, to turn what
has been said against oneself upon the one who said it.
With the Romans, topoi became loci, and Cicero literally defines them
as ‘the home of all proofs’ (De or. 2.166.2), ‘pigeonholes in which arguments
are stored’ (Part. Or. 5.7–10), or simply ‘storehouses of arguments’ (Part.
Or. 109.5–6). Also, their number was reduced from 300 in Topics or 29 in
Rhetoric to up to 19 (depending on how we count them).
Although Cicero’s list correlates pretty much, though not complete-
ly, with Aristotle’s list from the Rhetoric B 23, there is a difference in use:
Cicero’s list is considered to be a list of concepts that may trigger an associ-
ative process rather than a collection of implicit rules and precepts reduc-
ible to rules, as the topoi in Aristotle’s Topics are. In other words, Cicero’s
loci mostly function as subject matter indicators and loci communes.15 Or, in
Rubinelli’s words (2009: 107):
A locus communis is a ready-made argument that, as Cicero cor-
rectly remarks, may be transferable [...] to several similar cas-
es. Thus, the adjective communis refers precisely to the extensive
applicability of these kind of arguments; however, it is not to be
equated to the extensive applicability of the Aristotelian topoi [...].
The latter are ‘subjectless’, while the former work on a much more
specific level: they are effective mainly in juridical, deliberative
and epideictic contexts.
But being ready-made, does not mean that they prove anything specif-
ic about particular cases that are being examined, or that they add any fac-
tual information to it. As Rubinelli puts it (2009: 148):
[...] a locus communis is a ready-made argument. It does not guide
the construction of an argument, but it can be transferable to sev-
eral similar cases and has the main function of putting the audi-
ence in a favourable frame of mind.
15 This is probably due to the fact that Cicero was selecting and using loci in conjunc-
tion with the so-called stasis theory, or issue theory. What is stasis theory? Briefly
and to put it simply, the orator has to decide what is at stake (why he has to talk and
what he has to talk about): (1) whether something happened or not; (2) what is it that
happened; (3) what is the nature/quality of what happened; (4) what is the appropri-
ate place/authority to discuss what has happened. And Cicero’s loci ‘followed’ this
repartition.
30
common’. Some of them offer strategic advice, for example, to turn what
has been said against oneself upon the one who said it.
With the Romans, topoi became loci, and Cicero literally defines them
as ‘the home of all proofs’ (De or. 2.166.2), ‘pigeonholes in which arguments
are stored’ (Part. Or. 5.7–10), or simply ‘storehouses of arguments’ (Part.
Or. 109.5–6). Also, their number was reduced from 300 in Topics or 29 in
Rhetoric to up to 19 (depending on how we count them).
Although Cicero’s list correlates pretty much, though not complete-
ly, with Aristotle’s list from the Rhetoric B 23, there is a difference in use:
Cicero’s list is considered to be a list of concepts that may trigger an associ-
ative process rather than a collection of implicit rules and precepts reduc-
ible to rules, as the topoi in Aristotle’s Topics are. In other words, Cicero’s
loci mostly function as subject matter indicators and loci communes.15 Or, in
Rubinelli’s words (2009: 107):
A locus communis is a ready-made argument that, as Cicero cor-
rectly remarks, may be transferable [...] to several similar cas-
es. Thus, the adjective communis refers precisely to the extensive
applicability of these kind of arguments; however, it is not to be
equated to the extensive applicability of the Aristotelian topoi [...].
The latter are ‘subjectless’, while the former work on a much more
specific level: they are effective mainly in juridical, deliberative
and epideictic contexts.
But being ready-made, does not mean that they prove anything specif-
ic about particular cases that are being examined, or that they add any fac-
tual information to it. As Rubinelli puts it (2009: 148):
[...] a locus communis is a ready-made argument. It does not guide
the construction of an argument, but it can be transferable to sev-
eral similar cases and has the main function of putting the audi-
ence in a favourable frame of mind.
15 This is probably due to the fact that Cicero was selecting and using loci in conjunc-
tion with the so-called stasis theory, or issue theory. What is stasis theory? Briefly
and to put it simply, the orator has to decide what is at stake (why he has to talk and
what he has to talk about): (1) whether something happened or not; (2) what is it that
happened; (3) what is the nature/quality of what happened; (4) what is the appropri-
ate place/authority to discuss what has happened. And Cicero’s loci ‘followed’ this
repartition.
30
