Channels, Fall 2016

Towne • Æsop’s Trumpeter, Aristotle’s Orator, and the Technical Communicator Page 82 communicators are authors who are ethically culpable for their rhetoric and who should use their skills in political discourse. Although contemporary scholars of technical communication and rhetorical theory tend to suggest that communicators operate as neutral parts of the communication paradigm, communicators use rhetoric to persuade their audiences that reality exists in a particular way. Consequently, they are responsible for what and to whom they communicate. Although many communicators may not realize it, they are authors with powerful skills, trained rhetoricians who should engage in political discourse. This essay explores the literature that surrounds both classical and contemporary rhetoric as it applies to communication; analyzes the particulars of both Aristotle’s rhetorical theory and contemporary rhetorical theory; challenges the current notions of rhetoric as an amoral tool; and finally asserts that as ethically responsible authors, technical communicators should pursue political discourse. Because technical communicators employ rhetoric to persuade their audiences of particular views of reality as Aristotle suggests, they write content and are culpable for their rhetoric; moreover, as stewards of rhetoric, they should not be afraid to pursue political discourse. Literature Review Recent scholarship has shown that many researchers have considered how classical rhetorical theory relates to technical communication. Kallendorf and Kallendorf (1989) note that scholars have been “rediscovering the flexibility and diversity of classical rhetoric” (55). In their article “A Bibliography of Works Published in the History of Professional Communication from 1994-2009: Part 1,” Moran and Tebeaux (2011) catalogue the recent scholarship concerning classical rhetoric and technical communication. They note that Starring the Text: The Place of Rhetoric in Science Studies by Alan Gross (2006) justifies classical rhetorical models; that “Techne and Technical Communication” by Jay Gordon (2002) explores the utility of rhetoric; and that “Ethos: Character and Ethics in Technical Writing” by Charles Campbell (1995) argues for a stronger presence of ethos in technical communication. In the second part of their bibliography, Moran and Tebeaux (2012) write that “Ethics and Technical Communication” by Dombrowski (2000) reports that the ethical considerations that follow rhetoric have grown in the past thirty years. Likewise, Moran and Tebeaux (2012) report that “Business Communication: Present, Past, and Future” by N. Lamar Reinsch (1996) traces how classical rhetoric has developed into contemporary communication. Several other scholars also discuss how classical rhetoric and technical communication intersect (Dubinsky 2004; Hughes 2002; Johnson 2004; Kallendorf and Kallendorf 2004; Katz 2004; Miller, 1989, 2004 ). A Review of Classical Rhetoric Contemporary scholars are not the first to consider the fundamental principles of rhetoric; classical scholars such as Plato, Isocrates, and Aristotle considered the subject in detail as well. Although scholars can trace much of contemporary rhetorical theory to Aristotle’s treatise On Rhetoric , Aristotle wrote his works to respond to the contemporary theories of his day, specifically those of Plato and Isocrates. In much of their work, both Plato and Isocrates argue against the Sophists. According to both men, many of the Sophists claim to