Origins of Western Rhetoric

Thank you for reading. . . I was originally a philosophy major. I taught The History of Rhetoric at a University for years.

Instructor: Dr. Wayne Stein, Professor

Being a professor, he teaches classes on Asian culture, world literature, and the history of rhetoric. He was awarded the DaVinci Fellow from the Oklahoma's Creativity Think Tank (2008), the ESL Professional of the Year Award from OKTESOL (2003), the Service to the Sanga (Community) Award from the Stillwater OSU Buddhist Society (2003), and various other awards. He has published books, chapters, and articles for newsletters, newspapers, and encyclopedias. He graduated from Oklahoma State University with his Ph.D. in English.

Some feel that the origins of Western rhetoric go back to Corax and his student, Tisias. They developed a "systematic approach to argument," founded on what Corax called the "doctrine of general probability" (Katula and Murphy 19).

The famous example that they used was what if a case came to court where a smaller man claims he was beaten up by a bigger man. The audience would probably believe the story of the smaller man. Why would a smaller man attack a bigger man? The bigger man must be guilty.

Tisias countered back by saying that is exactly what the smaller man knows what will be believed. He states that the smaller man uses the doctrine of general probability in his favor. So the bigger man then questions thatt counters and says that the smaller man attacked him knowing that people would believe him and not the bigger man. Thus, probability not truth rules. Corax and Tisias are part of the Sophistic tradition.

Today such an argument reappears again and again in court cases. Not much has changed. Just look at what is said in the Ferguson case with its grand jury decision (November 25, 2014) of 28 year old police officer Farren Wilson against the taller 18 year old, unarmed Michael Brown (6' 4", 290 pounds): . . . "when I grabbed him, the only way I can describe it is I felt like a five-year-old holding Hulk Hogan." When asked about Brown's face he said, "It looked like a demon."

In another case (July 13, 2013) using the stand your ground law, the 28 year old George Zimmerman (5'7"), neighborhood watch coordinator shoots an unarmed 17 year old Trayvon Martin (5 ' 11 ) in Sanford, Florida. The stand your ground law is upheld.

However, let's return to the Ferguson case.If you read most accounts of the case, much is made of Brown's height and often Wilson's height is left out. In actually, Brown's height is not important. The officer Farren Wilson is actually the same height at 6'4" and weighs 210 pounds, though lighter than Brown. So the doctrine of probability should not have worked. However, it was applied a different way: the weight made Brown the "bigger" man. However, when we think of Hulk Hogan, who is 6'7" we tend to think of him as a giant more so because of his height not weight.

In both cases, the defendants justified using deadly force because of size be it height or weight. Add race and such cases become more complicated and socially explosive.

The "doctrine of general probability" remains an important rhetorical "truth" that is used over and over again in society. Knowing about rhetoric, we can be more enlighted about its usage though we may not be wiser . Find other cases that used this doctrine.

Work Cited

Richard A. Katula and James J Murphy. "The Sophists and Rhetorical Conciousness," Synoptic History Of Classical Rhetoric. Edited James J. Murphy and Richard A Katula. 17-50. Davis: Hermagoras Press, 1995. Print.