How to use rhetoric to get what you want - Camille A. Langston

譯者: Farya Yau 審譯者: SF Huang

How do you get what you want using just your words?

如何善用語言來得償所願？

Aristotle set out to answer exactly that question over 2,000 years ago

早在2千多年前，亞里斯多德 就已在《修辭學》的論述裡

with the Treatise on Rhetoric.

回答這個問題了。

Rhetoric, according to Aristotle,

根據亞里斯多德的觀點， 修辭學

is the art of seeing the available means of persuasion.

是體現所有說服方法的藝術。

And today we apply it to any form of communication.

現今，我們把它應用在 所有的溝通交流中。

Aristotle focused on oration, though,

然而，亞里斯多德則聚焦在演說上，

and he described three types of persuasive speech.

他論述了3種具說服力的演說形式。

Forensic, or judicial, rhetoric

法庭演說，亦稱辯護式演說，

establishes facts and judgements about the past,

對已發生之事件， 確立其事實和做出判斷，

similar to detectives at a crime scene.

就像在犯罪現場的警探一樣。

Epideictic, or demonstrative, rhetoric

典禮演說，又稱表達性演說

makes a proclamation about the present situation,

根據現場情況而準備的演說。

as in wedding speeches.

例如：婚禮演說。

But the way to accomplish change is through deliberative rhetoric,

但是，想要達到 改變聽眾想法的目的，

則必須透過議事演說 或評議性演說來達成。

or symbouleutikon.

Rather than the past or the present,

議事演說不問過去或現在，

deliberative rhetoric focuses on the future.

只聚焦在未來。

It's the rhetoric of politicians

它是政治家透過互相辯論，

debating a new law by imagining what effect it might have,

來傳達新的律法 對未來可能造成的影響。

like when Ronald Regan warned that the introduction of Medicare

就像雷根總統警告聯邦醫療保險，

would lead to a socialist future spent telling our children

將使美國走向社會主義，

and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free.

而人民的自由將成為 我們向後代傳訴的歷史。

But it's also the rhetoric of activists urging change,

它也是籲求改變的行動主義者 所使用的演說方式。

such as Martin Luther King Jr's dream

例如：馬丁．路德．金恩的夢想是

that his children will one day live in a nation

他的孩子們，有天將生活在一個

where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,

以品德優劣、而不是以膚色

but by the content of their character.

來評斷他們的國度裡。

In both cases, the speaker's present their audience with a possible future

在這兩例中，講者為聽眾 描繪出未來可能的景況，

and try to enlist their help in avoiding or achieving it.

試著爭取聽眾的支持， 以達到共同抵制或贊成的目的。

But what makes for good deliberative rhetoric,

除了描繪未來外，

如何才能達到有效的議事演說呢？

besides the future tense?

According to Aristotle, there are three persuasive appeals:

根據亞里斯多德的觀點， 有3種可達成說服的方式:

ethos,

品格、

logos,

理法

and pathos.

和情感。

Ethos is how you convince an audience of your credibility.

品格，是以自己的誠信來說服聽眾。

Winston Churchill began his 1941 address to the U.S. Congress by declaring,

1941年，英國首相邱吉爾 在美國國會演說的開場白:

"I have been in full harmony all my life with the tides which have flowed

「一直以來， 我反特權和反壟斷的立場，

與大西洋兩岸反特權和 反壟斷的聲浪是一致的。」

on both sides of the Atlantic against privilege and monopoly,"

thus highlighting his virtue as someone committed to democracy.

以突顯他忠於民主的優點。

Much earlier, in his defense of the poet Archias,

很早以前，羅馬執政官西塞羅 在為詩人阿基亞斯辯護時，

Roman consul Cicero appealed to his own practical wisdom

以自身務實的智慧

and expertise as a politician:

與政治家的專業素質，說道:

"Drawn from my study of the liberal sciences

「我承認我從未拒絕

and from that careful training to which I admit

接受文學教育的薰陶

that at no part of my life I have ever been disinclined."

與其縝密的訓練培育。」

And finally, you can demonstrate disinterest,

最後，你可以證明自己的公正無私，

or that you're not motivated by personal gain.

或者你不是為一己私利。

Logos is the use of logic and reason.

理法，則是訴諸邏輯和推理。

This method can employ rhetorical devices such as analogies,

可以使用修辭學的手法， 如：類比、

examples,

例證、

and citations of research or statistics.

研究及統計數據的引用。

But it's not just facts and figures.

但重點不僅只是事實和數據，

It's also the structure and content of the speech itself.

演說的內容和架構也很重要。

The point is to use factual knowledge to convince the audience,

重點是以真實的知識來說服聽眾，

as in Sojourner Truth's argument for women's rights:

以索傑納‧特魯思 在女性權益的論點為例:

"I have as much muscle as any man and can do as much work as any man.

「我的肌肉和所有男人一樣多， 我可以做的工作也和所有男人一樣。

I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed

我耕作、收割、去殼、劈木、割草，

and can any man do more than that?"

有男人可以做得更多嗎？」

Unfortunately, speakers can also manipulate people with false information

不幸的是， 講者也可利用虛假的訊息

that the audience thinks is true,

來操弄、欺騙聽眾；

such as the debunked but still widely believed claim

例如：像是疫苗會導致自閉症， 這類已經被闢謠，

that vaccines cause autism.

確仍有人相信的不實言論。

And finally, pathos appeals to emotion,

最後，則是情感 -- 對聽眾動之以情。

and in our age of mass media, it's often the most effective mode.

身處在大眾傳媒的時代， 通常這是最能立竿見影的方法。

Pathos is neither inherently good nor bad,

訴諸情感本身，並無好壞之分，

but it may be irrational and unpredictable.

但可能會導致不理性和無法預測。

It can just as easily rally people for peace

它能輕易地和平聚眾，

as incite them to war.

亦能輕易地煽動戰爭。

Most advertising,

大部份廣告，

from beauty products that promise to relieve our physical insecurities

從承諾帶給人們 外在自信的美容產品，

to cars that make us feel powerful,

到賦予權力象徵的車子，

relies on pathos.

都是使用訴諸情感的方法。

Aristotle's rhetorical appeals still remain powerful tools today,

亞里斯多德的修辭學， 至今仍是強而有力的工具。

but deciding which of them to use

但決定使用那一種方法，

is a matter of knowing your audience and purpose,

取決於你的目標聽眾、目的、

as well as the right place and time.

適當的地點和時間。

And perhaps just as important is being able to notice

重要的是，

你是否能夠察覺到其他人 試圖運用相同的技巧來說服你。

when these same methods of persuasion are being used on you.