Enthymemes, like syllogisms, are a form of logical argument where the conclusion is inferred from the given premises. However, enthymemes are different because they leave part of a major premise unsaid, because knowledge of that premise is assumed. In Rhetoric, Aristotle argues that certain truths cannot be demonstrated, as science or math can be. Instead, they only can be rendered more or less persuasive. When giving a speech, a speaker needs to be aware of who his audience is, because the persuasiveness of an argument depends heavily on the audience and what appeals to them. The speaker, by using enthymemes in his speech, is making assumptions about his audience, because his argument necessarily calls on a certain world view which he shares with them. Outside of that context, his argument might not be as strong, or might even lose its meaning, if the audience does not hold that particular world view.
My second composition for this writing class called for the use of sequential art to convey a message that we wanted to spread to a larger audience. For this assignment, I created a PowerPoint presentation in support for reading the news. In it, I argued that:
… we should all read the news because we need to be aware of events that occur in our local community, and to stay connected with the rest of the world. It is implied that if we want to take action towards becoming global citizens, we need to know about what is happening in the world.
In this argument, I made several assumptions of what my audience believed in the reasons I gave to why we should read the news.
1) That it is beneficial to be aware of events in our community and around the world.
2) That it is a common desire to be a good global citizen.
In a society that was less open, or perhaps with an audience that was less socially concerned, this argument would have been rendered ineffective because they did not share the same world view that my argument appealed to.
In my presentation, I also claimed that media sources are unreliable. I cited examples from the new internet hit, Twitter, and popular broadcasts, including FOX News and The Daily Show. Had my audience not been familiar with these sources, the argument might still stand from the point that it was trying to exemplify. However, the argument would certainly be weaker if they did not understand the credibility issues that FOX News faces, or if they lacked the presumed knowledge that Twitter contributors can be anybody with access to the internet or a mobile phone.
Using enthymemes can simplify the process of making an argument, because it allows the speaker to build upon pre-existing shared ideas to make his case, thus bypassing the need to establish that premise. Also, calling upon knowledge that the audience is familiar with may even add to the persuasiveness of the argument, by allowing them to relate new concepts with what they already know and accept. As Aristotle wrote, “the most applauded [arguments] are the kind that [the audience gets] the point of as soon as they have been stated” (240). It is important to keep in mind the type of audience you will be speaking to, in order to select the most persuasive enthymematic arguments to use in your speech.
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