Elements of Rhetoric: Comprising the Substance of the Article in the Encyclop?dia Metropolitana With Additions, &C

ELEMENTS OF RHETORIC. by Richard Whately. Elements Of Rhetoric: Comprising The Substance Of The Article In The Encyclopædia Metropolitana With Additions, &C is a historic treatise by the English logician and writer Richard Whately. This work presents a rigorous, philosophy-informed approach to rhetoric, treating it as an offshoot of logic and focusing on argumentative composition. The text outlines the invention, arrangement, and introduction of propositions and arguments (Part I), the science of persuasion (Part II), and the stylistic and elocutionary aspects of rhetoric (Parts III and IV). Whately discusses the discovery and organization of arguments, different kinds of evidence (causes, signs, examples, analogies), and the roles of conviction and persuasion, as well as the use and abuse of rhetorical devices. The Introduction surveys the history of rhetoric, situates its value, and sets forth the methodological stance that rhetoric should illuminate and sharpen thinking without resorting to dishonest tricks. The book also includes a Preface with authorial reflections and notes on the aims of education and the utility of systematic rhetoric.