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9. Ethotic Argument: Witness Testimony and the Appeal to Character
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9 ETHOTIC ARGUMENT WitnessTestimony and the Appeal to Character The influence of the person on the manner in which his acts are received is exercised through the medium of prestige, which is the quality that leads others to imitate his acts. Chaim Perelman, The Realm of Rhetoric Of the means of persuasion provided through speech,Aristotle identifies three species: “for some are in the character of the speaker, and some in disposing the listener in some way, and some in the speech itself ” (Rhet. I.2: 1356a). Much of the argumentation we have been exploring focuses on the last of these—arising from the speech itself. But the other two also had important pre-Aristotelian champions among the Sophists and their contemporaries. Quintilian praised Euripides, for example, for his eloquence and noted that “he is marvelous at expressing any emotion, and far and away the supreme master of the power to arouse pity” (The Orator’s Education 10.1: 68). This relates to the ability to dispose the listener in some way through the stimulation of emotions.Alongside such pathotic arguments are those that draw from the character of the speaker, that give weight to what is said through the person of who says it. Such ethotic argument held its power, for Aristotle, insofar as the speaker was able to create character through the speech (rather than relying on the status held prior to and outside of the speech).1 ETHOS The more general category of ethotic argument that should interest us involves all kinds of appeals to the person who says something (rather than just what is said), in the attempts to praise others and even to undermine the worth of another’s speech through attacking that person’s character. Hence the frequent appeals in the speeches we have discussed to the testimony of witnesses and attempts to praise one person, such as Helen, by drawing attention to the quality of other individuals who valued her. Exploring ethotic 132 Sophistic Strategies of Argumentation argumentation takes us through the law speeches and a range of epideictic discourses such as funeral speeches. Using character appeals to support or weaken a claim has association with appeals to authority and, as we shall see, the ad hominem. In fact how an arguer makes a case against another may be seen to reflect on that arguer’s own character (Carey 1996, 409). But ethotic argument as a general category is more expansive than this.2 While having a good character may be a precondition for some appeals to authority, the importance of being trustworthy will itself lend credibility to one’s argumentation. In Aristotle’s terms the exemplar of such a character exhibits practical wisdom, excellence, and goodwill.3 As was indicated in the case of argument by allusion attributed to Isocrates in the previous chapter, a figure such as Socrates can achieve a larger-than-life status as a model of just such an exemplar.Thus Aristotle can treat Socrates’ wisdom and sense of justice as a sign that the wise are just. He rises to the status of the commonplace, necessary for such allusions and signs to be effective. Should Socrates then advise in favor of an action, would this be a reason for doing it? For Brinton (1986, 251), the answer must be affirmative, but the type of reason involved is an ethotic one.Where arguments using ethotic reasons of this kind are well-grounded, that is, the character invoked or represented is known to be of high quality and the character appeal is relevant to the issue in question, then we have a reasonable form of argumentation that should lend weight to a case (although it is a matter of debate whether ethotic reasons alone can carry a case). THE APPEAL TO ONE’S OWN CHARACTER In many of the speeches or texts reviewed in earlier chapters, the advocate supplements the argumentation with statements about their own character as well.This might be seen as a useful strategy when defending oneself against certain charges. If it can be suggested that a defendant is not the sort of person who would perform certain actions, then this would count as evidence in support of their defense. It is interesting to note that Antiphon does not avail himself of this strategy in the Tetralogies, where such opportunity would seem to exist. But in the Herodes speech the defendant does have occasion to point to his own conscience and character...