[4]: ix–x This is largely a reflection of disciplinary divisions, dating back to Peter Ramus' attacks on Aristotelian rhetoric in the late 16th century[5] and continuing to the present.
[4]: ix Like the other works of Aristotle that have survived from antiquity, the Rhetoric seems not to have been intended for publication, being instead a collection of his students' notes in response to his lectures.
This dialogue offered Aristotle, first a student and then a teacher at Plato's Academy, a more positive starting point for the development of rhetoric as an art worthy of systematic, scientific study.
The study of rhetoric was contested in classical Greece: on one side were the sophists, and on the other were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Dialectic is a tool for philosophical debate; it is a means for skilled audiences to test probable knowledge in order to learn.
Dialectic and rhetoric partner to form a system of persuasion based on knowledge instead of upon manipulation and omission.
Book II discusses in detail the three means of persuasion that an orator must rely on: those grounded in credibility (ethos), in the emotions and psychology of the audience (pathos), and in patterns of reasoning (logos).
Book III introduces the elements of style (word choice, metaphor, and sentence structure) and arrangement (organization).
Aristotle refers to the effect of ethos and pathos on an audience since a speaker needs to exhibit these modes of persuasion.
George A. Kennedy in a note to On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse remarks that ethos predominantly refers to the "moral character" of actions and mind.
Yet, in these[ambiguous] chapters, Aristotle analyzes the character of different groups of people so that a speaker might adjust his portrayed ethos in order to influence the audience.
[1]: II.12.1–15 According to Aristotle, the old are distrustful, cynical, and small-minded, for unlike the young their past is long and their future short.
[1]: II.13.13–14 Those in the prime of life represent the mean to Aristotle, possessing the advantages of both old and young without excess or deficiency.
[1]: II.15–17 Although Book II primarily focuses on ethos and pathos, Aristotle discusses paradigm and enthymeme as two common modes of persuasion.
The transition concludes the discussion of pathos, ethos, paradigms, enthymemes, and maxims so that Book III may focus on delivery, style, and arrangement.
"Aristotle marks as central to deliberative rhetoric: considerations of prudence and justice, the projected political and psychological consequences of the decision and the likelihood of encouraging—or entrenching—similar rebellious attitudes amongst allies.
"[23] A path to action is determined through deliberative rhetoric, since an individual following practical means is likely to foresee likely events and act accordingly.
He states: "We deliberate together in political communities by making and listening to each other's attempts to persuade us that some future action will best serve the end that citizens share with each other...
Without such a version of deliberative rhetoric, arguments would unfairly favor the interests of power and neglect the rights of the common people.