Question 1

What do Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca mean by their concept of the "universal audience," and why is it important to their theory of argument?

Accepted Answer

Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca saw the "universal audience" as a test of arguments that transcended local or personal biases. Their theory of argument was concerned with non-scientific and non-theistic reasoning for values, and thus audience became central. The "universal audience" then was a check for conscientious rhetors to test their arguments beyond the opinions and values of their immediate audience.

Question 2

What, according to Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca, are the benefits of argumentation before a single listener?

Accepted Answer

Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca saw the single listener as a practical means for instantiating the universal audience. The single listener reflects how the "universal audience" might respond to an argument.

Question 3

Into what two categories do Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca divide the starting points of argumentation? What specific sources of agreement are placed under each heading?

Accepted Answer

Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca divide their starting points of argumentation into "the real" and "the preferable." The first category is found in what both speaker and audience accept as well-established facts, widely accepted truths, or uncontested presumptions. The second category of "the preferable" consists of commonly held values, and value hierarchies. This concept connects with Aristotle's notion of endoxa.

Question 4

What is the ultimate goal of Habermas' theorizing about communication in the public sphere? What is "communicative action"?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is the ultimate goal of Habermas'...

Question 5

In what different ways are the natural and social sciences presented as rhetorical by writers discussed in this chapter?

Accepted Answer

The answer of In what different ways are the natural...

Question 6

What concern does Dilip Gaonkar raise regarding labels such as "the rhetoric of science"?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What concern does Dilip Gaonkar raise regarding...

Question 7

What do David J. Depew and John Lyne conclude about the current status of the rhetoric of science as a field of study?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What do David J. Depew and John...

Question 8

Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca consider self-deliberation a kind of argumentation? Do you agree that you can "reason with yourself"? Is this, as they claim, a particularly reliable way of testing our reasoning?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca consider self-deliberation a kind...

Question 9

What is your reaction to Jurgen Habermas' search for universal guidelines of conversational practice that might help assure rational and just discourse? Is such a system possible, or is this a utopian dream that does not have any application to the real world of rhetorical interactions?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is your reaction to Jurgen Habermas'...

Question 10

Are you persuaded by the arguments of scientists like Simon, Geertz, McCloskey, and Campbell that the natural and social sciences have a distinctly rhetorical dimension to them? Does such an idea violate your notion of science as objective? Should it?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Are you persuaded by the arguments of...

Question 11

Present at the beginning of the twentieth century, ___________________ was an intellectual effort to bring scientific standards to bear on the resolution of all issues.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Present at the beginning of the twentieth...

Question 12

As opposed to other "Rhetoric of X" fields, David J. Depew and John Lyne describe the ___________________ as a field of study as matured, well established, and can be broken up into sixteen separate genres of rhetorical research.

Accepted Answer

The answer of As opposed to other "Rhetoric of X"...

Question 13

Used in exposing ideologies, ____________________ is the systematic analysis of discourse in order to reveal its hidden assumptions and implications.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Used in exposing ideologies, ____________________ is the...

Question 14

The ___________________ is Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca's imagined audience of highly rational individuals that is used to test the reasonableness of arguments and transcend local and personal biases.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The ___________________ is Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca's imagined...

Question 15

For Habermas, ____________________ is the interactive process of critical argumentation which is key to overcoming problems of ideological domination.

Accepted Answer

The answer of For Habermas, ____________________ is the interactive process...

Question 16

British philosopher of science _____________________, has called the theory of evolution the "creation myth of our age," and argues that modern science has mythological characteristics in the same manner of history or religion.

Accepted Answer

The answer of British philosopher of science _____________________, has called...

Question 17

Perleman and Obrechts-Tyteca divide the starting points of argumentation into two categories; the first category is "the real," which of the following is the second category of starting points that deals with commonly held values and value hierarchies?

Accepted Answer

The second category of starting points in argumentation, according to Perleman and Obrechts-Tyteca, is "the preferable," which deals with commonly held values and value hierarchies. The other options (A, C, and D) do not accurately represent this category.

Question 18

Which of the following is not one of the conditions of communicative competence Habermas outlines in order to produce rational communication in the public sphere?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following is not one...

Question 19

Which of the following is the rhetorical metaphor Charles Darwin used to communicate his theory of evolution in a more positive light?

Accepted Answer

Charles Darwin used the rhetorical metaphor of "natural selection" to communicate his theory of evolution in a more positive light. This metaphor emphasizes the role of nature in selecting traits that promote survival and adaptation, rather than the perception of evolution as a random or purposeless process.

Question 20

Which of the following scholars believes that "we have extended the range of rhetoric to include discourse types … that the ancients would have regarded as falling outside its purview," and that including all symbolic realms within rhetoric is careless?

Accepted Answer

Dilip Gaonkar argues that the expansion of rhetoric to include all forms of discourse dilutes its specificity and overlooks the unique characteristics that traditional rhetoric encompasses.

Quiz 9: Contemporary Rhetoric I: Arguments, Audiences, Advocates