In On the Study Methods of Our Time, G. Vico intrigued me with his idea of eloquence. This was echoed by Alexander Bain in his English Composition and Rhetoric. I’d like to use this journal entry to analyze their mutual concept of the means of persuasion through eloquence.

Vico’s interpretation of this idea is more wordy: “Therefore, the soul must be enticed by corporeal images and impelled to love; for once it loves, it is easily taight to believe’ once it believes and loves, the fire of passion must be infused into it so as to break its inertia and force it to will. Unless the speaker can compass these three things, he has not achieved the effect of persuasion; he has been powerless to convince” (p. 38). In short paraphrase, Vico says that persuasion requires these three things in the audience, in this order: 1) interest, 2) belief, and 3) passion.

Bain uses different words to describe the same thing. Using rhetoric effectively, he states, “there are three principle ends, — to inform, to persuade, to please” (p.875). He calls these three “the Understanding, the Will, and the Feelings” (p.875). I prefer this description, as it provides a model to follow, further elaborating on the three heads of rhetoric.

I believe that by following the concept that Vico and Bain provide, a writer or speaker will be able to persuade their audience and avoid that “oratorical fire which, as soon as [it is] extinguished cause [the audience] to revert to his original disposition” (p.38).