Editing Rhetoric (section)

=== Notable theorists ===
; [[Kenneth Burke]] : Burke was a rhetorical theorist, philosopher, and poet. Many of his works are central to modern rhetorical theory: ''Counterstatement'' (1931), ''A Grammar of Motives'' (1945), ''A Rhetoric of Motives'' (1950), and ''Language as Symbolic Action'' (1966). Among his influential concepts are "identification", "consubstantiality", and the "[[dramatistic pentad]]". He described rhetoric as "the use of language as a symbolic means of inducing cooperation in beings that by nature respond to symbols".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Borchers |first=Timothy A. |title=Rhetorical theory: an introduction |year=2006 |publisher=[[Thomson/Wadsworth]] |location=Belmont, Calif. |isbn=978-0-534-63918-1}}</ref> In relation to Aristotle's theory, Aristotle was more interested in constructing rhetoric, while Burke was interested in "debunking" it.
; The [[Groupe μ]] : This interdisciplinary team contributed to the renovation of the {{lang|la|elocutio}} in the context of poetics and modern linguistics, significantly with ''Rhétorique générale''<ref>{{cite book|first1=J.|last1=Dubois|first2=F.|last2=Edeline|first3=J.-M.|last3=Klinkenberg|first4=P.|last4=Minguet|first5=F.|last5=Pire|first6=H.|last6=Trinon|orig-date=1970|title=A General Rhetoric|translator-first1=Paul B.|translator-last1=Burrell|translator-first2=Edgar M.|translator-last2=Slotkin|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|year=1981}}</ref> and ''Rhétorique de la poésie'' (1977).
; [[Marshall McLuhan]] : McLuhan was a media theorist whose theories and whose choice of objects of study are important to the study of rhetoric. McLuhan's book ''[[The Mechanical Bride]]''<ref>{{cite book|last=McLuhan|first=Marshall|author-link=Marshall McLuhan|title=[[The Mechanical Bride]]: The Folklore of Industrial Man|publisher=Vanguard Press|year=1951}}</ref> was a compilation of exhibits of ads and other materials from popular culture with short essays involving rhetorical analyses of the persuasive strategies in each item. McLuhan later shifted the focus of his rhetorical analysis and began to consider how communication media themselves affect us as persuasive devices. His famous dictum "[[the medium is the message]]" highlights the significance of the medium itself. This shift in focus led to his two most widely known books, ''[[The Gutenberg Galaxy]]''<ref>{{cite book|last=McLuhan|first=Marshall|author-link=Marshall McLuhan|title=[[The Gutenberg Galaxy]]: The Making of Typographic Man|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1962}}</ref> and ''[[Understanding Media]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=McLuhan|first=Marshall|author-link=Marshall McLuhan|title=[[Understanding Media]]: The Extensions of Man|publisher=[[McGraw-Hill]]|year=1964}}</ref> These books represent an inward turn to attending to one's consciousness in contrast to the more outward orientation of other rhetoricians toward sociological considerations and symbolic interaction. No other scholar of the history and theory of rhetoric was as widely publicized in the 20th century as McLuhan.
; [[Chaïm Perelman]] : Perelman was among the most important [[argumentation theory|argumentation]] theorists of the 20th century. His chief work is the ''Traité de l'argumentation—la nouvelle rhétorique'' (1958), with [[Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca]], which was translated into English as ''The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Perelman|first1=Chaïm|last2=Olbrechts-Tyteca|first2=Lucie|author-link1=Chaïm Perelman|author-link2=Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca|title=The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation|translator-first1=John|translator-last1=Wilkinson|translator-first2=Purcell|translator-last2=Weaver|year=1969|orig-date=1958|publisher=University of Notre Dame Press|isbn=978-0-268-00446-0|lccn=68-20440|location=Notre Dame, Ind.}}</ref> Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca move rhetoric from the periphery to the center of argumentation theory. Among their most influential concepts are "dissociation", "the universal audience", "quasi-logical argument", and "presence".
; [[I. A. Richards]] : Richards was a literary critic and rhetorician. His ''The Philosophy of Rhetoric'' is an important text in modern rhetorical theory.<ref name=Richards1965>{{cite book |last=Richards |first=I. A. |year=1965 |title=The Philosophy of Rhetoric |location=New York |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-500715-2}}</ref> In this work, he defined rhetoric as "a study of misunderstandings and its remedies", and introduced the influential concepts ''tenor'' and ''vehicle'' to describe the components of a metaphor—the main idea and the concept to which it is compared.{{r|Richards1965|p=97}}
; [[Stephen Toulmin]] : Toulmin was a philosopher whose ''Uses of Argument'' is an important text in modern rhetorical theory and [[argumentation theory]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Toulmin |author-link=Stephen Toulmin |year=2003 |title=The Uses of Argument |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-53483-3}}</ref>
; [[Richard M. Weaver]] : Weaver was a rhetorical and cultural critic known for his contributions to the new conservatism. He focused on the ethical implications of rhetoric in his books ''Language is Sermonic'' and ''The Ethics of Rhetoric''. According to Weaver there are four types of argument, and through the argument type a rhetorician habitually uses a critic can discern their worldview. Those who prefer the argument from genus or definition are idealists. Those who argue from similitude, such as poets and religious people, see the connectedness between things. The argument from consequence sees a cause and effect relationship. Finally the argument from circumstance considers the particulars of a situation and is an argument preferred by liberals.