On Ch. Perelman’s Rhetoric Theory of Argumentation

After the rhetoric has lost its disciplinary specifics, in the XX century there was a wave of renewed interest in it, expressed in the development of the study of argumentation as an independent field of knowledge. The origin of the rhetorical field in the theory of argumentation was initiated by Ch. Perelman. He rejects the strict logical form of the construction of the argument, since it does not take into account the goals, conditions, means and context of the argument. He examines argumentation as a process of interaction between the orator and the audience, and identifies and analyzes techniques that lead to conviction as a result. The main task of Ch. Perelman consists in improvement of the communicative practices in the society  by justifying the indissoluble unity of the concepts of the audience and argumentation. The specific features of the rhetorical theory of argumentation consist in the concepts of argumentation as a unified network of arguments, a new understanding of the audience and its typology, a shift in the assessment of the quality of public communication from the orator to the audience, the concept of the starting point of the argument and the value of argument.

Keywords: theory of argumentation, rhetoric, audience, Ch. Perelman, S. Toulmin, argument.