Prophetic Rhetoric: Aristotle and Douglass on the Purpose of Political Speech

• In Event: Political Thought and Philosophy Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Since Aristotle, nearly all major philosophic and scholarly treatments of political rhetoric take for granted that its sole legitimate purpose is persuasion—getting the audience to change its judgment. In this article, I draw upon Frederick Douglass’ account of his own rhetorical activity to challenge this framework. Douglass demonstrates that persuasion is often insufficient to produce action. As a result, the rhetorician may still have work to do even when the audience agrees entirely with her position. Douglass draws upon the rhetorical tradition of black Christian preaching to develop a prophetic voice to respond to this problem. This alternative mode of rhetoric challenges the Aristotelian presuppositions about human psychology, the role of political speech, and the relationship between speaker and audience. It also raises a set of normative difficulties that differ from those raised by the rhetoric of persuasion.

Author

• Michael C. Hawley, Duke University