Rhetoric, Poetics and Logic

By: Aristotle

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Aristotle's contribution to the sum of wisdom dominates all our philosophy and even provides direction for much of our science. And all effective debaters, whether they know it or not, employ Aristotle's 3 basic principles of effective argument that form the spine of Rhetoric: "ethos," the impact of the speaker's character upon the audience; "pathos," the arousing of the emotions; and "logos," the advancement of pertinent arguments. In Poetics, Aristotle observes several aspects of epic poetry, lyric poetry, and comedy, and he draws a dramatic distinction between poetry and history. He maintains that poetry has greater philosophical value because it deals with universals, while history states particular facts. Aristotle's body of work that has come to be identified as Logic includes: classification into 10 categories; proposition; syllogism; and inductive and deductive reasoning.

(P)1992 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Logic is the medium between world and words

Somebody says Aristotle is one of sophist and his Logic is only skillbook of debate. However Aristotle was philosopher too. Even influenced by Plato who joined Socrates' colleague. He was definitely in realist view. So, don't think this is just skill but this is philosopher's strict work too. Logic is, as Delueze also said, rule that makes reality into word. This book reknowned as typical example of Logic textbook. But you'd better know this is the excellent work by highly trained theologist.

unintelligible

The wording was difficult to understand, the speech was hard to tell what words were used.

would anybody tell me if i was getting stupider?**

rhetoric by Aristotle-

the story/content: it is the writings of Aristotle, I believe it is obvious to say that it is brilliant. The content is so poignant. There is much to learn from these writings. there is wisdom for learning a just and honorable life. However, as intelligent as it is, i must mention that it is a wee-bit dry at times (example: parts related to Political science or import/export).

The performance: outstanding. The sound quality of the recording is crystal clear. The narrator's voice is unique and fit perfectly to the content. His tone and timber are perfect. But what separates him, makes this 5 star performance, is his articulation. His phonetic lisps and enunciation are unlike any reader I have heard to date. He sounds to me like the quintessential English professor. And his performance make the listening so pleasant that it is easy for repeats thus to glean as much as the author would have intended.

SIDE NOTE – as positive as I am of this audiobook, I believe that "The Dream of Reason" is better. Again the narrator is perfect for the job but the content is easier to digest, has a greater fluidity and covers a broad range of philosophy instead of only Aristotle’s writings.

** = quote by mike patton

One of the Foundations of Western Knowledge

What made the experience of listening to Rhetoric, Poetics and Logic the most enjoyable?

Aristotle looks at many topics that are not commonly covered by modern authors. This covers the foundation of much of our modern knowledge-base, something we should all understand and give some thought to before making our own contribution. Some of the language may be old fashioned, but you do have to realise this was written in ancient Greek, but it is still an important work even today.

This is the basis of modern thinking and in some respects goes beyond modern thinking.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Non-fiction and no characters are included.

Unique Selection

Any additional comments?

Aristotle is one of the most influential thinkers in history, yet most audible selections center almost entirely on three of his works: Ethics, Politics and Poetics. That is why this selection is unique in that it offers, besides the Poetics, two works that are rarely included in audible works by Aristotle: Rhetoric and Logic. The production values of this recording are excellent, and Frederick Davidson's rendition is clear, concise and energetic. Still, I must add a caveat emptor. Although both the Rhetoric and the Poetics are unabridged, the Logic (Organon) includes only the Posterior Analytics in its entirety, and his other five works of the Logic: Categories, On Interpretation, Prior Analytics, Topics and On Sophistical Refutations are treated with only very brief summaries. I was tempted to subtract one star for this stretching of the truth of the term unabridged, but I was so happy that this trio of works was even available I resisted that temptation. I hope that the selection of Aristotle's works in audible increases over time, and that in the future we can look forward to listening to other important works such as Metaphysics, On the Soul and Physics, as well as the remaining five unrecorded works of the Logic.

Good Content, Bad Reader

The reader just doesn't do the content justice, it feels when you're listening to it that you are in the middle of a stuffy 1920's English classroom with a teacher droning on about Rhetoric. I love the works of Aristotle and a good reader could have made this bearable.