Perinchek's The Art Of Rhetoric

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Persuasion is a way of making influence on peoples’ beliefs, thoughts, attitudes or behavior. Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle was one of those philosophers who determined the term “rhetoric” as a mean of persuasion. According to the philosopher, rhetoric is one of the most ancient arts of discourse, where a writer/speaker tries to inform, motivate or persuade a particular audience in a certain situation. In our days, the art of persuasion is present everywhere: politics, business sphere, social media, and everyday life. Although Aristotle lived thousands of years ago, his philosophical views concerning persuasion and rhetorics are relevant in today’s globalized world.

In the first sentence of his “ The Art of Rhetoric,” Aristotle …show more content…

Turkish politician Dogu Perinchek can be considered as an example of a person who used Greek “tricks” to appeal to the Eouropean Court of Human Rights. In 2007, Perinchek was known as Genocide Denier. After receiving criminal conviction, Perinchek gave an incredigble and life-changing speech in the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. Although at first sight it might seem that Perinchek was only speaking from the bottom of his heart, knowledge of terms “pathos,” “ethos,” and “logos” would help understand that the speech was fully based on those modes of persuasion. As a part of European liberty and heritage, Perinchek highlights the importance of the freedom of speech. In Perinchek's opinion, with the help of the freedom of speech, we need to rid ourselves from the negative effects of judgements, opinions which date back to the First World War. Perinchek observes "the truth" as one of the most valuable elements of people's freedom. By refering to the subjects such as the freedom of speech and First World War, Perinchek appeals to the European Court with the help of Logos which is based on facts, theories and real-life examples. After giving his point of view about the importance of the freedom of speech, Perinchek with the help of Logos again, turns to the Armenian Genocide. As he states, the events that took place in 1915 do not fit into the legal definition of genocide. As Perinchek argues, along with his fellows, he supported this argument with the help of science. As the speaker mentions, endless number of Russian and Armenian documents with the total weight of 90 kilos have been presented to the Swiss Court. Moreover, Perinchek insures the court that his argumentations were based on Russian reports and court judments. In the continuation of the speech, Perinchek appeals to the fact

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