The Art of Rhetoric (Penguin Classics)

Rhetoric sounds dubious. Is it concerned about convincing people of what you think is right for you but not necessarily good for the person you want to convince. Is it about selling your ideas to gain power or wealth by overwhelming your audience with false arguments convincingly presented?Aristotle tries to solve this dilemma insisting that all persuasion should be with the intention of making a contribution to happiness by furthering virtuous behavior. He also presents the methods you should use to convince people to believe you. I find the book useful from both points of view.Aristotle explains very clearly that to be persuasive you have to be rational and have the ability to understand and arouse emotions of the audience in your favor.The book was written as a kind of handbook to be used 2400 years ago. Most of it, but not all is still valid to day. It has become a common practice to use PowerPoint presentations to convince people. The method of Aristotle is about content, structure, logic and emotions. Some slides may still be useful, but if you really want to be successful you better focus on the content using Aristotle type argumentation. All people that have to make speeches or presentations will find a wealth of ideas in this book. I found it a pity that the book does not contain complete speeches of Aristotle. The book should be of special interest to politicians and leaders in business that have to address large audiences with somecritical and skeptical members.

Penguin Books rarely disappoint! The introduction is great and the annotations and explanatory information within the book is excellent!

Another great addition to add to your library. Got it for my brother as a Christmas gift and he enjoyed it.

To clearly understand the power of persuasion, one must look to the ancient Greek past of philosophers and scholars such as Aristotle and Plato. Especially, Aristotle and one of his most renowned works that focuses on persuasion and how rhetoric plays an important role to conveying one's information to a particular audience The Art of Rhetoric. Aristotle stresses two important components to help individuals express what they may want to say be it between two people or a room of thousand, but it is not simply about speaking but scientifically and systematically observing what one wants to say and how to say it.Aristotle's philosophy of rhetoric did not happen overnight. With the development of early civilization, there had to be a reason for a system of rhetoric, public discourse, or in general, order in society to even come about. One major factor included the state of Greek society during the time in which Aristotle began to contemplate and reflect upon the state of affairs in western civilization between 400 to 320 BCE; a new empire began in Macedonia and with each new regime, a new set of laws and rules were established by the new leaders, and the appropriate time to establish the "academy." If one were to observe parallels in civilization, east and west, Aristotle and Confucius were indeed the fathers of philosophy within each of their societies that benefited their respective civilizations. Also, within this ancient time period, readers may parallel Rhetoric to Tzu Sun's Art of War; for Aristotle a handbook on rhetoric and for Tzu Sun a handbook on military strategy. Although each piece of work has its individual merits, like Tzu Sun, Aristotle sought for order within political circles through oratory means. With a matter of understanding his premise to express the power of words, Aristotle's systematic plan included three genres of rhetoric: forensic, epideictic, and deliberative, i.e. argue, listen, and think. These factors contribute to the speaker leaving an impression upon the audience of what was spoken. But if one wanted to take it a bit further, without the speaker even beginning to talk about the subject, one must also consider the speaker's character. Aristotle suggests, intelligence, virtue, and goodwill are also essential elements to how an audience will respond to the speaker, the subject that is being discussed, and the audience's audible attentiveness to the speaker; simply, getting the audience's attention.The Art of Rhetoric is a classic piece of literature that offers insight to communication in a variety of settings that may pertain to any occasion. Aristotle simply wanted to emphasize that any individual that may have something to say, should be able to identify, organize, and clearly and articulately express the ideas or point of views from a weak argument to a strong argument (Kindle version). But most importantly, look, listen, and then speak.

As advised.

Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to persuade and speak so that people actually listen. 2500 years old but it's as useful as ever.

While everyone knows Aristotle's Ethics and Politics, this version of The Art of Rhetoric is well-annotated and edited, and helpfully related to Aristotle's other works.

Amazing book.

Krásná a užitečná kniha, zaslouží si lepší vazbu. Ale zaplatil jsem paperback, mám paperback.

Good Read... We can use these tactics while we speak in stage or we can also use this in writing the essay

ottima edizione, con utilissimo commento, graficamente chiarissimo- per un assoluto classico. un peccato che questo non sia lo standard per le pubblicazioni scientifiche e non.

It's a difficult read for the most part, but it's certainly worth the effort and perseverance. It's a very solid very impressive guide to public speaking, debate, persuasion. Everyone reading this should give it a go. It will improve any bookshelf instantaneously and has the power to transform your career. Seriously - better than any career self-help book, you really should buy yourself a copy.

Its a great book from Aristotle, but the translation is very hard to comprehend; looks like the translator considered only the native English speakers as its readers..