Rhetoric and Argumentation

Abstract

The chapter argues that there are several different, and on the face of it incompatible, conceptions of the relationship between rhetoric and argumentation in the more or less current literature. (1) The class of arguments is a member of the class of rhetorical entities or processes. Argumentation is inherently rhetorical. (Perelman, Reboul, Meyer) (2) The class of arguments overlaps with the class of rhetorical entities or processes, so while some arguments are rhetorical, others are not, and part of the domain of rhetoric has to do with entities or processes other than arguments. (Hauser, Kock) (3) Arguments and argumentation are amalgams of three different kinds of properties, rhetorical, dialectical and logical, which correlate with three perspectives from which to consider arguments and argumentation. (Tindale, Wenzel) (4) The rhetorical properties of arguments and argumentation consist of the framing, selecting or formulating arguments or argumentation that can make logically and dialectically good arguments more appealing and persuasive, or can cover the blemishes of logically or dialectically defective arguments. (van Eemeren & Houtlosseer, Johnson)