Rhetoric is a product of our enlightened minds - to compare it with martial authoritarianism or the practice of usury, to present it as merely another avenue for one being to express dominance over another, is wholly absurd.

Against such claims I can only stand with mouth agape. Surely, such detractors suggest, that just as martial or financial power stokes the flame of ambition in those who wield it, so could the power of influence wielded by a rhetorician give way to equally rampant ambition. It is in these times that a knowledge of rhetoric - of stance, elocution and dramatization - can reign.Īnother oft-given reason for the avoidance of studying rhetoric, made by the scribes and aides of the Domus Politica, is the insistence that knowledge of rhetoric might somehow corrupt or otherwise pollute the moral fiber of the one that employs it. And, perhaps most importantly, there exist people over whom fact holds no meaning. Any argument not grounded in hard, irrefutable facts is not worth being made, fought for or upheld, according to them.īut there is a world beyond the syllogism, beyond the progressions of postulates and conclusions of discourses. Many of my colleagues in the Basilica Gnostra are quick to dismiss the value of an education based in the study of rhetoric for the simple reason that rhetoric emphasizes the form an argument takes rather than the basis of the argument itself. It is difficult to delve deep into rhetoric and the persuasive arts without first addressing the medium's inexorable detachment from fact - or, put more simply - that which is obviously true. The ordinary cover of this book belies a wealth of knowledge contained within.Ĭhapter 3: On Rhetoric and its Relation to Fact NOTE : In-game this book is called Book of Persuasion instead of Skill Book (Persuasion). This book is a reward for completing Paper Trail mission in Adessa. You can help Amalur Wiki by expanding it.

Persuasion book