Rhetoric

In an age fixated on current events and in search of meaning, philosophy and its classics continue to provide essential points of reference and can offer us the keys to interpreting our future. Rhetoric by Aristotle is the first philosophical systematisation of the art of persuasion, a fundamental practice in the Greek world, a direct reflection of the events of political life and the importance of public discourse as the primary instrument of democratic expression. Aristotle is the first to attribute a theoretical status and distinct principles to rhetoric, incorporating it into his classification of the sciences, demonstrating its close connection with, and at the same time its autonomy from, logic, ethics and politics. In this treatise, he addresses both the theoretical and practical aspects of rhetoric. On the one hand, he examines it as he does with the other disciplines he studies with a scientific approach, seeking to identify and logically explain the laws underlying phenomena; on the other, he provides the orator with a series of technical tips. All aspects of this art of persuasion are therefore covered: from logic to the use of metaphors and witticisms, from the style of speech to ways of eliciting the most favourable attitudes and moods in listeners.