Epistemic Rhetoric

“Epistemic Rhetoric” is rhetorical theory first described by Robert L. Scott who stated that rhetoric is “a way of knowing.”Scott wrote that for most of history, the way rhetoric has been framed has always been grounded in the assumption that truth exists – rhetoric either imparts truth or frames it, shaping our perceptions of it. Scott writes that we act “assuming that the truth is fixed and that his persuasion[…]is simply carrying out the dictates of that truth, but he will be deceiving himself.” This fact is not, according to Scott, a reason to pull away from rhetoric, but rather, a way to reorient ourselves to it. Epistemic rhetoric, is therefore, the response to the realization that truth is not fixed, for if truth does not exist, it must be created “moment ¶ by moment in the circumstances in ¶ which he finds himself and with ¶ which he must cope.”

Barry Brummett, in 1979, outlined three distinct meanings of epistemic rhetoric. The first is methodological. In a methodological sense, rhetoric is epistemic in that it leads people to knowledge. The first way it does this is through contest, and through the clash of ideas, the audience can dicern knowledge. It also forces the deliverer to come to knowledge in order to effectively impart it on others. Rhetoric allows the discovery of knowledge. In that sense, rhetoric is epistemic in a methodological sense. The second is sociological. In a sociological sense, rhetoric is epistemic in that “the reality of the ethical, social, political questions[…]is created in rhetoric.” The “reality” of the social is dependent on rhetoric, thus, rhetoric is epistemic in a sociological sense. The third is ontological. In an ontological sense, rhetoric is epistemic in that “rhetoric creates all of what there is to know. Discourse does not merely discover truth or make it effective. Discourse creates realities rather than truths about realities. Furthermore, no reality that humans experience exits apart from human values, perceptions, and meanings.”