Persuasiveness of the Political Speeches in Terms of Aristotle's Rhetoric

• Main Authors: Chen-Yu Huang, 黃貞瑜
• Other Authors: Shih-Ho Wang
• Format: Others
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/24125371529182254733

碩士 === 東吳大學 === 日本語文學系 === 103 === Aristotle’s Rhetoric, also known as the Art of Rhetoric , contains three key elements: pathos, ethos, and logos. During antiquity , these were the principal means of debate in courts of law and legislative assemblies, where language was used to instill confidence, persuade, and reach accords in negotiations. Beyond this, there is also the primary aim of political speeches, which is presenting an orator’s view and eliciting a listener’s support of said view . Because persuasion is the common objective of both, and because of the fact that both are related to public affairs, rhetoric and political persuasion often intersect . Within this context, this article seeks to utilize political speeches as a research material and from the perspective of Aristotelian rhetoric examine their persuasiveness. This paper uses twenty-five speeches published on the website of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by the Prime Minister, the Vice Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, as its research material, dividing them into two sections for analysis. The first section uses the perspective of Aristotelian rhetoric to examine the technique and efficacy of the speeches, while the second section analyzes their sentence structure tendencies, as well as the relationship of such tendencies to the persuasiveness of the speeches. Lastly, the author will touch upon the significance of the three elements of pathos, ethos, and logos in regard to these speeches. The first section of the paper introduces its research motivations, objectives, research materials, and key points. Before going into the main research of this paper, the second section will include a definition of speeches and persuasion and an outline of Aristotelian rhetoric, as well as a literature review of studies related to political speeches and a statement of the main thesis of this paper. Sections three through five are analysis, including a division of the three modes of persuasion, pathos, ethos, and logos, into two categories: perceptual elements and social elements. The third section’s primary point of analysis is from the perspective of ethos, while the fourth chapter delves into ethos and logos. Compared to the micro-level analysis of the third and fourth chapters, the fifth chapter examines political speeches from a broader, macro-perspective. In the first half of the fifth section there is a discussion of sentence structure tendencies, with the second half touching upon the relationship between these tendencies and the three elements of pathos, ethos, and logos. Lastly, section six consists of the conclusion and a consideration of questions for future research.