“Logical hylomorphism” and Aristotle's koinoi topoi

Conley, Thomas

doi:10.1080/10510977809367962

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This stands in contrast to the often made division between specific and general topoi in the discourse, a division that furthermore often is assumed to be connected to material and form. This in turn is an assumption that Thomas Conley claims is an anachronistic hylomorphism (Conley 1978). On the other hand, and confirming the problem of dissociating material and form, all of the topoi found are also based on assumptions that warrant the claim.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Internal Deliberation Defending Climate-Harmful Behavior

Söderberg

Wormbs

2022

Argumentation

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Most people in countries with the highest climate impact per capita are well aware of the climate crisis and do not deny the science. They worry about climate and have climate engaged attitudes. Still, their greenhouse-gas emissions are often high. How can we understand acting contrary to our knowledge? A simple answer is that we do not want to give up on benefits or compromise our quality of life. However, it is painful to live with discrepancies between knowledge and action. To be able to avoid taking the consequences of our knowledge, we deal with the gap by motivating to ourselves that the action is still acceptable. In this article, we use topical analysis to examine such processes of motivation by looking at the internal deliberation of 399 climate engaged people’s accounts of their reasoning when acting against their own knowledge. We found that these topical processes can be described in at least four different ways which we call rationalization, legitimization, justification and imploration. By focusing on topoi we can make visible how individual forms of reasoning interact with culturally developed values, habits and assumptions in creating enthymemes. We believe that these insights can contribute to understanding the conditions for climate transition communication.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Internal Deliberation Defending Climate-Harmful Behavior

Söderberg

Wormbs

2022

Argumentation

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“…2. Conley (1978) refuted the interpretation by some (e.g., Grimaldi, 1958) that common and special topics are separate categories denoting form and matter respectively. Rather he argued that the difference between them is one of relative degrees of "field dependence" and "field invariance" (p. 96).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The opposing conclusions generated by various rhetors, which are often all reasonable interpretations of the available data, are not surprises that they "discover" through invention but are claims to be justified based on the facts admitted in the case combined with the judgment standards that link those facts persuasively to their respective claims; in other words, as Conley (1978) argued, "Theses, claims, or causes are justified on the basis of what is already agreed upon" (pp. 94-95).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Rhetorical invention is key to effective leadership in a situation that involves change because it suggests not so much which alternative resolution to a probable issue is best, but potential justifications for resolutions, based on generally accepted opinions, that lead to shared judgment (see Dick, 1964, p. 313;Larson, 1968, p. 126). The opposing conclusions generated by various rhetors, which are often all reasonable interpretations of the available data, are not surprises that they "discover" through invention but are claims to be justified based on the facts admitted in the case combined with the judgment standards that link those facts persuasively to their respective claims; in other words, as Conley (1978) argued, "Theses, claims, or causes are justified on the basis of what is already agreed upon" (pp. 94-95).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Rethinking Loci Communes and Burkean Transcendence

Olson

2008

Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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In situations of potential business change, the cooperation of various direct and indirect stakeholders (i.e., employees, customers, shareholders, neighbors) is crucial. The alternative policy courses may all be reasonable, and yet none of them may be clearly best for all stakeholders; support for an option must be cultivated through public rhetoric. Loci communes and Burkean transcendence are two potent rhetorical strategies that can help business leaders publicly weigh and civilly advocate a policy position relative to competing alternatives. This article develops and illustrates that argument by analyzing the public rhetoric involved in AirTran's attempt to build support for its hostile takeover of Midwest Airlines and Midwest's successful resistance to that attempt. Midwest's deft development of the transcendent term value helped it circumvent the initial deadlock between its preferred loci communes (i.e., the existent and quality) and AirTran's (i.e., the possible and quantity). The article advances a rationale and call for rhetorical scholarship to adopt more situated, social practice views of loci communes and transcendence.

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“…R. Miller (2000) discusses, Aristotle wrestled with the topic’s concrete-versus-concept nature. She notes that we could possibly reconcile this disjunct through consideration of the topos as Toulmanian warrants (see also Bird, 1961; Conley, 1978), but doing so shuts out our consideration of topics as concepts or propositions. The Latin approach struggles to reconcile the conceptual/propositional nature of topical argumentation.…”

Section: Common Topics Commonplaces and Their Roles In Environmentamentioning

confidence: 99%

Common Topics and Commonplaces of Environmental Rhetoric

Ross

2012

Written Communication

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Common topics are words or phrases used to develop argument, and commonplaces aid memory or catalyze frames of understanding. When used in argumentation, each may help interested parties more effectively communicate valuable scientific and environment-related information. This article describes 12 modern topics of environmental rhetoric, identified from 125 interviews, and discusses them in relation to their topical fluidity and managerial, generative, and encapsulated utility: “Al Gore,” “balance,” “common sense,” “environment as setting,” “experience,” “extremism,” “man’s achievements,” “pragmatism,” “proof,” “religion,” “recycling,” and “seeing is believing.” Findings suggest that “environment” is a complex topic with many potential implications—using topics common to environmental rhetoric to shape argumentation may facilitate more productive environment-related communication.

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“Logical hylomorphism” and Aristotle's koinoi topoi

Cited by 10 publications

References 5 publications

Internal Deliberation Defending Climate-Harmful Behavior

Internal Deliberation Defending Climate-Harmful Behavior

Rethinking Loci Communes and Burkean Transcendence

Common Topics and Commonplaces of Environmental Rhetoric

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