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| Image courtesy of Rik Hartley |
Though the definition of rhetoric we have used in class was broader than my own to begin with, that definition, upon further reflection, may have an unnecessary constraint: the existence of a second person.
We have applied the study of rhetoric to group decisions, such as deciding where to go out to eat. Each person who wishes to contribute to the decision presents their argument, and, after weighing each argument, the group decides where to eat in a way that is satisfactory for everyone involved. Those presenting the arguments use the tools of rhetoric.
What if this same reasoning could be applied to individual decisions? When someone decides where to eat, he or she goes through a similar process, weighing the perceived advantages and disadvantages of several different possible choices before settling on one.
However, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of different choices is not the same as making a rhetorical argument for or against each choice. In the absence of new arguments from outside sources, people only rarely convince themselves to meaningfully change their mind. Whatever the advantages and disadvantages of a certain restaurant are to a certain person, they will likely remain the same unless that person takes in new information or arguments.
So is rhetoric applicable at all to individual minds? In the case of opinions, probably not. However, it may be applicable to changes in behavior.
Imagine a man who wanted to start going to the gym. However, he could never find the motivation to; every night, he told himself he would go the next day, but every morning he told himself he was too tired. But then, one morning, the man said to himself, "If you don't go to the gym now, then you'll never go to the gym." And so he went to the gym.
The logic of the man's declaration is questionable, but it is a (simple) rhetorical argument in favor of going to the gym. It has a speaker (the man), an audience (also the man), and a message (you should go to the gym). It even achieves its goal.
I believe that situations like this present examples of rhetoric between a person and him- or herself. Furthermore, I believe that, by leveraging the tools of rhetoric, we can, as the man did in this situation, convince ourselves to change our behavior in a positive way.
Louis, I think this is a very interesting way to think about rhetoric. I agree that it is possible to present examples of rhetoric between a person and him or her self, but I think an individual situation misses out on a few things that rhetoric focuses on. I think the biggest think decision-making misses out on is a contribution to a greater conversation. Rather than having a widespread audience with differing opinions, you simply have yourself and your own mind. Your opinions are influenced by your individual experiences and don't take into account a wide variety of experiences that I think rhetoric attempts to pull together. I think on a deeper level, rhetoric could be between a person and him or her self, but you may have to exclude a few important pieces.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting argument. I have never considered how the author could also be the audience. I liked how you used the example of a man convincing himself to go to the gym in the morning, as I found this very relatable. However, if internal discourse on going to the gym is rhetoric and yet deciding where to eat is not. I am confused on what defines the distinction. Where do we draw the line between what is internal rhetoric and what is merely thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI guess I've never thought about using rhetoric for yourself. I've always imagined your audience being a different group of people. So far in this class we've only really talked about persuasion in terms of others, but this is still an interesting idea!
ReplyDeleteI really like your example of the man going to the gym - I use that same rhetoric for myself, almost like I am yelling at myself to encourage me to go get some physical exercise every now and then. I also agree that this form of rhetoric is a very simple form of the concept being that the man is trying to convince himself; therefore, the man is completely aware that rhetoric is being used on himself. It is a different idea to wrap the mind around, but I do think one could classify self-encouragement and motivation as one particular form of rhetoric.
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