Presenter: Elijah Leutwyler – English, Philosophy
Faculty Mentor(s): Corbett Upton
Session: (In-Person) Oral Panel—Comics, Classics and Analysis
The philosophy of friendship has recently returned to academic conversations with scholars such as Paul W. Ludwig or Alexander Nehamas engaging the subject from any number of historical lenses. But what does it mean to speak as a friend or persuade amicably? While it is a commonly held belief that one’s friends have your best interests in mind, this paper argues that a traditionally classical view of rhetoric inherently incorporates the virtue of friendship in any communication between people by close-reading moments of Aristotle’s On Rhetoric and Quintillian’s Institutes of Oratory. Indeed, Aristotle grounds rhetorical exposition in a distinctly moral register and Quintillian enacts that idea in his pedagogical style as a Roman educator. In essence, this paper sees Aristotle and Quintilian as champions to the idea that rhetoric is grounded in an appreciation for intrapersonal intimacy, interpersonal connection, and a pedagogical structure that allows for such values to flourish. Empathizing with one’s audience and entering speaking engagements with relationship development as a top priority not only guards a person’s speech from becoming manipulative as the two classical rhetor-philophers explain, it also fosters an environment where rhetorical speech can operate in the way it was always meant to: for the good of the people.