TY - CHAP

T1 - Aristotle on Deliberation

T2 - Its Place in Ethics, Politics and Rhetoric

AU - Kock, Christian Erik J

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Aristotle differs from most later philosophers in distinguishing clearly between epistemic reasoning, which aims for truth, and practical reasoning, which does not. How can he posit this distinction and yet not dismiss practical reasoning as flattery and manipulation, as Plato did? The answer lies in the concepts of deliberation (boulē, bouleusis) and deliberate choice (proairesis). They link Aristotle's rhetoric, ethics, and politics together and help provide definitions of all three: Ethics is about deliberate choices by individuals. Politics and rhetoric are about the collective deliberate choices by the polity: politics is about making these choices well so that the good life of all citizens is optimally secured; rhetoric is the principal means to do this. These links have not been much discussed by scholars, probably because few studies range across these three Aristotelian ‘arts’; a proper discussion of them should draw on modern work in ethics, political science, and rhetoric. These key concepts and Aristotle’s discussions of them offer inspiration for modern theories of ‘deliberative democracy,’ citizenship, argumentation, debate, and the public sphere. The paper belongs within the conference theme of “Rhetoric in political discourse.”

AB - Aristotle differs from most later philosophers in distinguishing clearly between epistemic reasoning, which aims for truth, and practical reasoning, which does not. How can he posit this distinction and yet not dismiss practical reasoning as flattery and manipulation, as Plato did? The answer lies in the concepts of deliberation (boulē, bouleusis) and deliberate choice (proairesis). They link Aristotle's rhetoric, ethics, and politics together and help provide definitions of all three: Ethics is about deliberate choices by individuals. Politics and rhetoric are about the collective deliberate choices by the polity: politics is about making these choices well so that the good life of all citizens is optimally secured; rhetoric is the principal means to do this. These links have not been much discussed by scholars, probably because few studies range across these three Aristotelian ‘arts’; a proper discussion of them should draw on modern work in ethics, political science, and rhetoric. These key concepts and Aristotle’s discussions of them offer inspiration for modern theories of ‘deliberative democracy,’ citizenship, argumentation, debate, and the public sphere. The paper belongs within the conference theme of “Rhetoric in political discourse.”

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9789027211231

SP - 13

EP - 25

BT - Let’s talk politics

A2 - Van Belle, Hilde

A2 - Rutten, Kris

A2 - Gillaerts, Paul

A2 - Van de Mieroop, Dorien

A2 - Van Gorp, Baldwin

PB - John Benjamins Publishing Company

CY - Amsterdam

ER -