2
practitioners. Instead, understood as a treatise on the art of political and judicial
persuasion, the discussion of the Rhetoric would be germane to other political subjects,
such as ethical virtue and justice. In this paper, I specifically investigate the third
dilemma of whether or not Aristotle’s examination of the emotions in Book II is a
systematic analysis. By first examining potential reasons for his classification of the
emotions in Book II and comparing it to his discussion of emotions in the Nicomachean
Ethics, I conclude that the Rhetoric is a systematic treatise on the art of persuasion and is,
thus, significant for a more thorough understanding of political speech and action. This
conclusion also provides evidence for an overall estimation of the systematic nature of
the text and its connection to his other political treatises.
1. Emotions and Rhetoric Persuasion
In Book I, Aristotle defines rhetoric as “a capacity (dunamis) to see, that which
potentially is persuasive concerning each subject matter.”
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He further describes rhetoric
as a corresponding part or counterpart (antistophos) to dialectic. Rhetoric and dialectic
are similar because both involve speech and neither are (1) associated with a specific
science or subject matter and, (2) to some extent, all human beings have sufficient
intelligence to maintain the arguments of rhetoric and dialectic. Yet, a significant
difference between dialectic and rhetoric is in the role of emotion in their respective
examinations. Specifically, Aristotle considers the logic of the argument as the only proof
in dialectic; whereas, rhetoric consists of three species of proofs – the ethical disposition
(ethos) of the speaker, the disposition (diatheinai) of the listener, and the logic (logos) of
3
Unless otherwise stated, all translations are from Freeze’s translation and all author translations are based
on the Greek text as found in Aristotle. Art of Rhetoric. J.H. Freeze, translator (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1926). Rhet.1355b20-25. Author’s translation.
Convention