Macey’s concept that Cicero’s De
Inventione was more related because of the similarity in age I found
intriguing. Although I found it
insightful, I disagree that De inventione was “more helpful in developing one’s
own cognitive reasoning” about the art of rhetoric. I found De oratore to be much more insightful
and because it was formed out a dialogue it showed that anyone can add to it
and help establish the concept whereas in De inventione Cicero only stated what
was to be understood as correct.
In De inventione,
Cicero discussed terms and their uses in the legal court. He was studying to be a lawyer so this
information was best understood by those in that field. In De oratore, Cicero, after much experience
in the field, uses a dialogue format to discuss when it is appropriate to use
such terms. It reminded me a lot of
serving a mission. In the MTC we
discussed ideas for teaching and inviting the Spirit. You think you understand a lot about
missionary work, until you go into the mission field. It is in the mission field that you really
become to understand the practical uses rather than the hypothetical or
supposed uses of these techniques. I can’t
speak for others but I felt that I was just becoming to understand missionary
work when I was ending my mission. 
I think
this can be seen in Cicero’s De inventione and De oratore. He knew the potential uses of the rhetorical
devices but after years of practicing law he could expound upon them and give
examples for when certain terms were to be used. I thought it was interesting how he expanded
upon his idea of stasis. He wrote of the
importance of stasis in De inventione and discusses the conjectural stasis in
the question of whether or not something occurred. In De oratore he expounds by discussing the
questions asked to decide which type of stasis is being discussed, “Conjecture
involves four questions: What exists? What is its origin? What is its
cause? What can change?” I think that Cicero’s experience served him
well in explaining rhetorical terms and how they should be used.
Nice analysis! It's true that De oratore was more of an application of what Cicero had learned in his years of practice, and I hadn't realized that. So maybe the two works could be used in that way, in that order--De inventione as an intro to rhetoric, and De oratore as a follow-up. Kind of like studying Preach My Gospel and then practicing in somebody's living room!
ReplyDeleteI think your mission analogy is wonderful. Cicero shows one level of understanding when he defines rhetorical terms, but another, deeper level when he explains how people come to understand and use those rhetorical terms. His career experience led to a deeper level of understanding. I look forward to the learning I will do throughout the rest of my life in my career.
ReplyDeleteI referred to your ideas on dialogue in my post. In addition to being more personable, dialogue is of a higher style than the teaching style used in De Inventione. The use of dialogue was not only more pleasing, but it moves us to think about rhetoric differently.
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