Towards a model of protreptic discourse: Aristotle's account in Rhetoric I.3-8

In his Rhetoric Aristotle introduces protreptic and its counterpart , apotreptic as a part of the deliberative genre, and he identifies the audience to which it is addressed , the matters it deals with, and the arguments that those who devise protreptic speech should employ. In the first part of this paper , I will consider the inclusion of protreptic in the realm of rhetoric and the close association that Aristotle establishes between the act of exhorting and that of deliberating and , consequently , adopting a certain course of action . I will focus on some passages of the Rhetoric which echo discussion of the decision -making process , as developed in other Aristotelian works , especially the Nicomachean Ethics. Strictly speaking , as we will see in the second part of the paper , the protreptic discourse envisaged in the Rhetoric is public and political : exhortations are intended for the assembly where the citizens deliberate on issues related with the government of the city . With respect to this conception , we find many signs of common ground between Aristotle's Rhetoric and the Rhetoric to Alexander , a contemporary handbook written by a professional rhetorician . However, at certain points of the treatise , Aristotle seems to broaden the perspective , including forms of private exhortation to a single individual . In outlining protreptic techniques of argumentation in I.5-7 , then , Aristotle offers guidelines valuable not only for those who exhort an audience about political and practical matters but also for those who offer encouragement about other kinds of human activity , including the study of philosophy.