Chaïm Perelman – författare

Kommunikation är inte ens i lyckliga undantagsfall ­intresselöst informationsutbyte mellan jämlikar; ­sociala, kulturella och religiösa spänningar och kon­flikter ut­spelar sig i vårt tal och våra samtal. Det finns helt enkelt inte något neutralt, förnuftigt och från egenintressen och retorik befriat språkbruk i vilket den egentliga ­sanningen om världen, moralen och oss själva kan uttryckas. Perelmans ”Nya Retorik” ger oss en möjlighet att se och förstå detta ofrånkomliga språkliga våld, hur det fungerar – den klassiska retorikens lära om ­betydelsen av känslor (pathos) och värderingar (ethos) för våra förnuftiga (logos) beslut är central på denna punkt ­– och kanske också hur det kan hanteras. Perelman påminner oss helt enkelt om en av den ­antika ­retorikens centrala insikter: allt språkbruk, från dema­gogens brandtal till filosofernas stilla seminariesamtal, utspelar sig i situationer som formas och helt och hållet genomsyras av intressen, fördomar, ­ogenomtänkta ­värderingar och dolda preferenser. Ur Mats Rosengrens introduktion. I Retorikens imperium sammanfattar och utvecklar Perelman sin ‘nya retorik’ – Traité de l'argumentation – la nouvelle rhétorique från 1958. Retorikens imperium skrevs 1977 och har kommit i flera utgåvor på franska. Denna 2:a svenska utgåvan följer den franska 1988-utgåvan.

The New Rhetoric is founded on the idea that since "argumentation aims at securing the adherence of those to whom it is addressed, it is, in its entirety, relative to the audience to be influenced," says Chaïm Perelman and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca, and they rely, in particular, for their theory of argumentation on the twin concepts of universal and particular audiences: while every argument is directed to a specific individual or group, the orator decides what information and what approaches will achieve the greatest adherence according to an ideal audience. This ideal, Perelman explains, can be embodied, for example, "in God, in all reasonable and competent men, in the man deliberating or in an elite." Like particular audiences, then, the universal audience is never fixed or absolute but depends on the orator, the content and goals of the argument, and the particular audience to whom the argument is addressed. These considerations determine what information constitutes "facts" and "reasonableness" and thus help to determine the universal audience that, in turn, shapes the orator's approach.The adherence of an audience is also determined by the orator's use of values, a further key concept of the New Rhetoric. Perelman's treatment of value and his view of epideictic rhetoric sets his approach apart from that of the ancients and of Aristotle in particular. Aristotle's division of rhetoric into three genres–forensic, deliberative, and epideictic–is largely motivated by the judgments required for each: forensic or legal arguments require verdicts on past action, deliberative or political rhetoric seeks judgment on future action, and epideictic or ceremonial rhetoric concerns values associated with praise or blame and seeks no specific decisions. For Aristotle, the epideictic genre was of limited importance in the civic realm since it did not concern facts or policies. Perelman, in contrast, believes not only that epideictic rhetoric warrants more attention, but that the values normally limited to that genre are in fact central to all argumentation. "Epideictic oratory," Perelman argues, "has significant and important argumentation for strengthening the disposition toward action by increasing adherence to the values it lauds." These values are central to the persuasiveness of arguments in all rhetorical genres since the orator always attempts to "establish a sense of communion centered around particular values recognized by the audience."

The Realm of Rhetoric follows in the tradition of the author's The New Rhetoric, hailed for its wide-ranging and innovative approaches to argumentation. In this new study Chaim Perelman continues to develop his ideas on the theory of rhetoric, now even more cogently and persuasively presented. Pruned of much detail present in the earlier book, this new work captures the essence of his thought in a style and presentation suitable to the program and needs of an English-speaking audience. It is an ideal instruction medium for students approaching theories of informal argumentation for the first time. Perelman raises the questions, "How do claims to reasonableness arise in prose that is not formally logical?" and "What does 'reasonableness' mean for some who speaks of 'reasonable men' or 'beyond reasonable doubt'?" He then shows how claims to rationality are embedded in a number of verbal structures heretofore considered exclusively ornamental or dispositional. He identifies and discusses many argumentative techniques in addition to the quasi-logical methods conventionally treated in textbooks and notes numerous subforms of argumentation within each of the general types he identifies.