The topos is a general instruction from which several arguments can be derived. They help direct the flow of a negotiation and also the audience’s understanding of the speaker and their point of view. It is crucial to understand argumentation.
Topoi in the Rhetoric contain instructions for arguments not of a certain form, but with a certain predicate. Every specific topos gives us a general (but not formal) description of things that are supposed to be good, noble, just, etc. It also gives us a reason enabling us to argue that the things described are good, noble, just, etc.
Typically, topoi refer the given description back to a generally held definition of what is good, noble, just, etc., for the objective of the negotiation.
Example: The specific topos is: “What is pleasant is good, since it is desirable.” The phrase “what is pleasant” provides the general description, the phrase “since it is desirable” provides the reason. Now, at the beginning of the chapter the good has been defined as “what is desirable”. Another specific topos is “honour is good, since it is pleasant”; here the reason in question applies the previous topos that what is pleasant is good, so that the current topos is indirectly linked with the initial definition of what is good. The general description included in those Topoi enables us …show more content…
Whereas reputation is a property attributed to the worker, it is his works that constitute the proper object of refutation. Whereas the former denotes the appreciation of a person by others, the latter denotes the appreciation of a thesis or theory by reference to the world or to the facts. Whereas the one refers to the public image of someone, which may be produced by sheer advertising, the other is concerned with verifying whether such an image cones ponds to the truth. Reputation feeds on subjective impressions and gossip, whereas for refutation only the facts and solid arguments