Technical Reports as Rhetorical Practice

10.2190/resc2 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Kalmbach
Keyword(s):  
Rhetorical Practice

Recht als Gegenstand rhetorischer Grundlagenforschung

Rhetorik ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jens Fischer
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Legal Rhetoric ◽  
Logical Status ◽  
Realistic Picture ◽  
Self Image ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Rhetorical Practice ◽  
Rhetorical Figure ◽  
Judicial Procedure

Abstract According to the self-image of lawyers, jurisprudence is a science: the premises in legal conclusions are truth-apt, as are the conclusions or judgements that follow from them, the cognition of true law is consequently regarded as their task. Against this background, a program that understands and analyzes law as the product of a rhetorical practice is confronted with fierce resistance. According to the research of analytical legal rhetoric, on the other hand, the evidence for a rhetorical imprint on law is overwhelming: starting with the logical status of legal inferences, to the peculiarities of judicial procedure, to the motivational situation of those involved in it, everywhere it becomes apparent that the image of strict truth-orientation inadequately describes the genesis of law. Following Aristotle, who assigned law to the field of phrónēsis and not to epistēmē, contemporary legal rhetoric research aims to draw a realistic picture of the genesis of law. Subdivided into the triad of logos, ethos, and pathos, it attempts to fully grasp the interrelationships involved. It becomes apparent that the rational or argumentative dimension is far from dominating in legal justifications. It is precisely at the neuralgic point, i.e., where arguments are opposed to each other, that the rhetor typically uses a rhetorical figure that links all levels of the triad: the restrictio.

Writing write-downs: the rhetoric of goodwill impairment

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-102
Author(s):  
Niklas Sandell ◽  
Peter Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Goodwill Impairment ◽  
Financial Communication ◽  
Rhetorical Practice ◽  
Nasdaq Omx ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The aim of this paper is to study the rhetoric of goodwill impairment, more specifically rhetoric, as it is constructed in the form of accounts (i.e. statements that explain unanticipated or untoward behavior). The authors argue that goodwill impairment is not only a technical matter but also a rhetorical practice by means of which external scrutiny is responded to. Design/methodology/approach The data corpus consists of explanations provided by corporations regarding impairment of goodwill. Data were collected from annual reports from companies quoted on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, Sweden. The impairment explanations were analyzed according to a taxonomy of account types. The explanations were subjected to close reading to discern the potential rhetorical functions of the different accounts. Findings Seven account types are identified and discussed, namely, excuse, justification, refocusing, concession, mystification, silence and wordification. Research limitations/implications There is a need for further research that explores the process of authorship (i.e. writing, editing, negotiating and revising) through which the texts of financial communication are produced. Practical implications The findings have implications for the future formulations of standards regarding qualitative explanations in financial reporting in general and explanations of goodwill impairment in particular. Originality/value The paper contributes to the knowledge about the use of natural language and rhetoric in financial communication.

Rhetorical Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 293-315
Author(s):  
Alexander Riehle
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Rhetorical Theory ◽  
Narrow Sense ◽  
Religious Literature ◽  
Rhetorical Practice ◽  
Judicial Rhetoric ◽  
Key Aspects

This chapter surveys key aspects of rhetorical practice in Byzantium, with a focus on the middle and late periods. The first section maps out the generic landscape of Byzantine rhetoric, which, in addition to oratory in the narrow sense, can be argued to comprise virtually all of (highbrow) literature, including poetry. While it is true that Byzantine rhetoric is particularly rich in texts of the demonstrative type such as encomia, the essay asserts against claims to the contrary, that forms of deliberative and judicial rhetoric continued to exist in Byzantium and appear in fact ubiquitously once one broadens the scope beyond secular oratory. After a brief sketch of the place of rhetoric in higher education, the chapter proceeds to discuss the various steps involved in composing and performing a rhetorical text. In this, it follows ancient and medieval precepts for the so-called tasks of the rhetorician—invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery—and shows their relevance for the practice of writing and reciting texts belonging to various rhetorical genres. Throughout, this chapter argues that scholarship on Byzantine rhetoric has focused too narrowly on panegyric and on matters of style, and that attention should turn to long-neglected aspects of argumentative technique that were at the heart of Byzantine rhetorical theory and education and that can be found in a wide array of textual genres, particularly in religious literature.

1968: Music as Rhetoric in Social Movements

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Mark Goodman ◽  
Stephen Brandon ◽  
Melody Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Rhetorical Criticism ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rhetorical Practice ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Rhetorical Force ◽  
Insight Into

<p>In 1968 social movements sparked rhetorical discourses which occurred in many nations and on hundreds of colleges and in communities across the United States.  These rhetorical discourses ultimately changed the direction of human events.  Sometimes these points of ideological protests shared views on specific issues, especially demonstrations against the Vietnam War, but each conflict was also its own local conflict.  There is no evidence that any specific group organized the protests, or that speakers motivated demonstrations, or that the rhetoric of one protest caused other protests.  Yet, the protests were not just spontaneous fires that happened to occur in the same year. So, how is it that so many protesters shared the desire for change and shared rhetoric, but each protest was sparked by local issues?  Answering that question provides insight into how the rhetoric of social movements occurred in 1968. </p><p>               Many scholars call for the study of the social movements of the 1960s.  Jensen (1996) argues, “The events of the 1960s dramatically increased the interest in studying social movements and forced rhetorical scholars to reconsider their methods for studying public discourse” (p. 28). To Lucas (2006), “Words became weapons in the cultural conflict that divided America” (x). Schippa (2001) wrote, “Many accounts identify the 1960s as a turning point. For better or for worse, there was a confluence of changing rhetorical practices, expanding rhetorical theories, and opportunities for rhetorical criticism. The cultural clashes of the 1960s were felt perhaps most acutely on college campuses. The sufficiency of deliberative argument and public address can be said to have been called into question, whether one was an antiwar activist who hated LBJ's war in Vietnam or a pro-establishment stalwart trying to make sense of the rhetoric of protest and demonstration. Years later, scholars would characterize war itself as rhetorical. What counted as rhetorical practice was up for grabs”(p. 261).</p>               First, this paper will frame the protest movement of 1968.  Then, we will search for the common factors that shaped the protests of 1968, focusing on the role of music. This analysis will provide insight into how music became a rhetorical force in a significant social movement of the 20th Century.

Before the Middle Ages

2021 ◽  
pp. 22-57
Author(s):  
Rita Copeland
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Separate Study ◽  
Philosophical Approach ◽  
Rhetorical Practice ◽  
The Middle Ages

Chapter 1 traces the millennial length of a theoretical discourse about affectio that begins with Cicero’s De inventione before turning to a tradition of stylistic teaching that arose in parallel with that speculative rhetorical thought and that was to have much more profound consequences for medieval rhetorical practice. Cicero’s De inventione was the main Latin rhetorical treatise, along with Rhetorica ad Herennium, that the Middle Ages inherited from antiquity. Cicero treats emotion (affectio) as a topic of invention, and understands it in philosophical terms as a perturbation of the soul. That philosophical approach was elaborated in medieval commentaries. The chapter then turns to late antique handbooks of style. Style came to constitute a separate study; through these influences, style also became the main conduit for teaching emotion and rhetorical persuasion.

‚Wertorientierung‘ als rhetorisches Argument: Die ‚Rhetorik‘ des Aristoteles und die soziale Praxis im Athen des 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. im Vergleich

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
Karen Piepenbrink
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Practical Philosophy ◽  
Life World ◽  
Rhetorical Practice ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Strong Orientation ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
Soziale Praxis

Different from some of his other works on practical philosophy Aristotle's Rhetoric has a rather strong orientation towards the everyday life world of the poleis of his time. That applies to many of his reflections on the conditions of communication in the poleis as well as to his utterances about social values which are based on common sense. In Aristotle's view the orator's ethos and thus his consequent reference to intersubjectively valid values is the most important instrument for a rhetor to claim credibility. In comparison with the ethopoiia of fourth-century rhetorical practice at Athens there are several structural similarities which, however, are neither due to interdependencies nor manifest themselves in intertextual references, but are due to the fact that Aristotle refers to the orators' conditions of action in a democratic system. Besides, there are also strong differences which seem to have two main reasons: Aristotle's inclination to differentiate and to systematize his topics as well as his tendency to ‘elitism’ which might have philosophical and socio-political components, whereby in the Rhetoric the socio-political ones predominate.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document