Chaim Perelman
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Perelman uses the term universal audience in order to distinguish it from particular audiences, which applies to particular people, particular places, particular times, particular groups, etc. The universal audience is employed in argumentation in order to transcend particulars and make broad appeals. If the distinction of the universal audience was not made, "there would be no difference between an effective argument and a valid one, and rhetoric would be more vulnerable to the classical philosophical attacks," which is that rhetoric is merely flattery (Crosswhite 162). | Perelman uses the term universal audience in order to distinguish it from particular audiences, which applies to particular people, particular places, particular times, particular groups, etc. The universal audience is employed in argumentation in order to transcend particulars and make broad appeals. If the distinction of the universal audience was not made, "there would be no difference between an effective argument and a valid one, and rhetoric would be more vulnerable to the classical philosophical attacks," which is that rhetoric is merely flattery (Crosswhite 162). | ||
| - | The concept of the universal audience has roots in Jewish tradition as well. Like the Jewish thought, "the New Rhetoric prioritizes the community of minds, and it is the human audience rather than God, formal logic, or the individual that judges the merits of an argument" (Frank 320). When it comes to argumentation, it is more important to know what the audience regards as true rather than what the speaker thinks is true. With the focus on the community or audience's values, Perelman had a strong alliance with the epideictic. He believed "audiences are taught fundamental values used in making judgments" through epideictic discourse (Frank 320). | + | The concept of the universal audience has roots in Jewish tradition as well. Like the Jewish thought, "the New Rhetoric prioritizes the community of minds, and it is the human audience rather than God, formal logic, or the individual that judges the merits of an argument" (Frank 320). When it comes to argumentation, it is more important to know what the audience regards as true rather than what the speaker thinks is true. With the focus on the community or audience's values, Perelman had a strong alliance with the epideictic. He believed "audiences are taught fundamental values used in making judgments" through epideictic discourse and that these values can be used in standing up against injustices (Frank 320). |
== Article Summaries == | == Article Summaries == | ||
Revision as of 01:40, 28 March 2012
Chaïm Perelman (1912-1984) was a Jewish philosopher best known for his book The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation (Traité de L'argumentation - La Nouvelle Rhétorique) in 1958 with Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca. Perelman was a professor of logic and metaphysics at Université Libre in Brussels in 1944 and spent most of his career there. His focus on mathematical logic would later shift to forms of discursive reasoning and notions of justice.
Contents |
Biography
Early Life
Perelman's Jewish heritage had a profound impact on his outlook on life and strongly influenced his views on justice, a key to his concept of argumentation and The New Rhetoric. Perelman, experiencing post-World World I Europe, the rise of Hitler, and widespread antisemitism, created and lead the Jewish wing of the Belgium resistance movement. The horrors of the Holocaust lead him to publicly announce his devotion to the Jewish notion of justice and cultural Judaism.
Judaism, Justice, and The New Rhetoric
Perelman turned heavily to the Jewish notions of justice in order to make sense of the widespread destruction he witnessed in World War II. Heavily influenced by the Jewish psychologist Henri Baruk, Perelman took in the "Jewish tradition... of justification that avoided dualism and worked to blend love and justice, truth and peace" (Frank 313). The Jewish tradition of justice requires a reason that includes emotion, empathy, and rationality and insists that those who judge should be compassionate.
Drawing inspiration from Talmudic texts, a collection of Jewish laws and traditions, Perelman contrasted Jewish pluralism with the Western notion of dualistic rationality. Perelman believed the Enlightenment rationalists had a limited view of reason and argued against the notion that there must be one answer to a given question. Perelman embraced Talmudic reasoning, which states that "reason is plural, revealing many answers to the same question" (Frank 314).
Due to his acceptance of pluralism, Perelman recognized the limitations of syllogisms. This can be seen in his view of the audience as the focal point in argumentation, since the aim of argumentation is to persuade or convince an audience to adapt or adhere to a thesis.
The Universal Audience
Perelman uses the term universal audience in order to distinguish it from particular audiences, which applies to particular people, particular places, particular times, particular groups, etc. The universal audience is employed in argumentation in order to transcend particulars and make broad appeals. If the distinction of the universal audience was not made, "there would be no difference between an effective argument and a valid one, and rhetoric would be more vulnerable to the classical philosophical attacks," which is that rhetoric is merely flattery (Crosswhite 162).
The concept of the universal audience has roots in Jewish tradition as well. Like the Jewish thought, "the New Rhetoric prioritizes the community of minds, and it is the human audience rather than God, formal logic, or the individual that judges the merits of an argument" (Frank 320). When it comes to argumentation, it is more important to know what the audience regards as true rather than what the speaker thinks is true. With the focus on the community or audience's values, Perelman had a strong alliance with the epideictic. He believed "audiences are taught fundamental values used in making judgments" through epideictic discourse and that these values can be used in standing up against injustices (Frank 320).
Article Summaries
Perelman, Chaïm "The New Rhetoric: A Theory of Practical Reasoning"
Additional Works
Books
- (1958) The New Rhetoric (with Olbrechts-Tyteca). ISBN 0268004463
- (1963) The Idea of Justice and the Problem of Argument. ISBN 0710036108
- (1965) An Historical Introduction to Philosophical Thinking. ISBN 0394306538
- (1967) Justice. ASIN B0006BQAS4
- (1979) The New Rhetoric and the Humanities: Essays on Rhetoric and its Applications. ISBN 9027710198
- (1979) New Rhetoric and the Humanities: Essays on Rhetoric and Its Applications. ISBN 9027710198
- (1980) Justice, Law and Argument: Essays on Moral and Legal Reasoning. ISBN 9789027710901
- (1982) The Realm of Rhetoric. ISBN 0268016046
Further Readings
Crosswhite, James (1989). "Universality in Rhetoric: Perelman's Universal Audience"
Frank, David A. (1997). "The New Rhetoric, Judaism, and Post-Enlightenment Thought: The Cultural Origins of Perelmanian Philosophy"
References
External Links
- Adam Kissel's Reading Notes on The New Rhetoric
- "The Jewish Countermodel: Talmudic Argumentation, the New Rhetoric Project, and the Classical Tradition of Rhetoric", article by David A. Frank
- "The Role of Audience in Chaim Perelman's New Rhetoric", article by Richard Long
- "After the New Rhetoric", book review by David A. Frank (reviews Gross and Dearin's Chaim Perelman)
