Perelman, ad Hominem Argument, and Rhetorical Ethos |
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Authors: | Michael Leff |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Communication, University of Memphis, 143 Theatre and Communication Bldg, Memphis, TN 38111, USA |
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Abstract: | Perelman’s view of the role of persons in argument is one of the most distinctive features of his break with Cartesian assumptions
about reasoning. Whereas the rationalist paradigm sought to minimize or eliminate personal considerations by dismissing them
as distracting and irrelevant, Perelman insists that argumentation inevitably does and ought to place stress on the specific
persons engaged in an argument and that the relationship between speaker and what is spoken is always relevant and important.
In taking this position, Perelman implicitly revives the classical conception of proof by character (ethos or “ethotic” argument),
but despite an extended discussion of act and person in argument, The New Rhetoric does not give much consideration to the
classical concept and confuses differing approaches to it within the tradition. The result is that Perelman treats the role
of the speaker in argument only by reference to abstract techniques and does not recognize the importance of examining particular
cases in order to thicken understanding of how ethotic argument works in the complex, situated context of its actual use.
Consequently, Perelman’s account of the role of persons in argument should be supplement by reference to case studies, and
to that end, I consider ethotic argument in W.E.B. Du Bois’ famous essay “Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others”.
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Keywords: | Ethos Ethotic proof Ad hominem Person and act in argument W E B Du Bois |
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