Descartes and the Resilience of Rhetoric: Varieties of Cartesian Rhetorical Theory

6. Lamy's Science of Persuasion

6 Lamy's Science of Persuasion Vivacity and the Inclinations There is nothing that cannot be persuaded when one knows how to use men's inclinations properly. II n'y a rien qu'on ne puisse persuader quand on sait bien se servir des inclinations des hommes. Lamy, L'ATt de j)(tder Rhetorical theory is not the center of interest for any of the thinkers considered so far. However, in Bernard Lamy we find a writer with a considerable reputation as a Cartesian militant whose most famous work, the ATt de parler, is an attempt to recast the whole range of questions normally treated by rhetoricians in light of the new philosophy.' Indeed, his teaching career was interrupted by charges that he had introduced Descartes' teachings into his classes, and he was considered a friend and disciple of his fellow Oratorian two years his senior, Malebranche, who is reported to have read Lamy's text in manuscript form and encouraged its publication.2 The first editions of his rhetoric appeared in late 1675, at approximately the same time that Malebranche was publishing the second part of La Rechenhe. In spite of Malebranche's imprimttl'ur,3 some of the most insightful commentators on Latny have found in his rhetoric just the opposite of the values Malebranche is considered t.o represent. Michel Charles declares Lamy's work "a rhetoric of passion" where emotion is the "final and essential instrument of persuasion ."'l Ulrich Rieken describes Lamy's defense of the passions 125 126 Lamy and imagination in eloquence as "a reply to objections of the sort raised by Malebranche."" Citing a passage in which Lamy seems more than pleased that the knowledgeable orator has greater power over his listeners than the most skillful mechanic over his machines, Jean-Paul Sermain points to "the assimilation of discourse to a machine on which B. Lamy founded the essential part of his art of speaking."!) Not only does Lamy acknowledge the potency of the mechanical persuasion that Malebranche had analyzed only to condemn, it would seem that he consents to its use. To be sure, passages in the first edition that were never modified through successive editions suggest that appeals to the heart can replace the evidence of truth. However, to consider such statements as the core of Lamy's view of persuasion is to overlook its central thrust. His deepest impulse is not to allow the passions to supplant reason in persuasion but to insist that rhetoric must be invoked to add affective proofs to the force of truth. "Reason alone is not enough; craftiness is necessary" ("La raison seule ne suffit pas; l'adresse est necessaire,,).7 That reason alone may not suffice does not mean that it may be dispensed with; rather it is to be supplemented by the indirect methods furnished by rhetoric . In fact, much of Lamy's agenda revolves around various strategies for enhancing attention. "The greatest secret of eloquence is to hold minds attentive and to prevent them from losing sight of the goal to which they must be led" ("Le plus grand secret de ['eloquence est de tenir les esprits attentifs, et d'empecher qu'ils ne perdent de vue Ie but oil it [aut les conduire" [1676:257]). Lamy's rhetoric is comprised of two arts, the art of persuasion concerned with res, and the domain of verba, or art of speaking. Reversing Larny's own order ofexposition, after a briefsummary of his career as it rdates to rhetoric, I first examine the psychology that grounds his art de persuader before showing how this exchange is effected in vivid language, that is, his art de flarter, which provides the title for the entire treatise. I then show that attention to the image of the orator's ideas and emotions presented with vivacity is at the heart of his system, particularly after the crucial 1688 revisions of his text. Lamy 127 A Cartesian Educator Just as Malebranche's views on communication stem from his desire to make Descartes' philosophy serve the Church's mission, . Llmy's experience as an educator in the schools and seminaries of the Oratory marks his combination of rhetoric and Cartesianism . He received his education in various Oratorian institutions, first in their college in his birthplace, Le Mans, where he studied rhetoric under Jules Mascaron, and then at Paris. Especially decisive were his two years of philosophy at...