The author Douglas Brent wants to explain what Rogerian Rhetoric is and what it offers to argumentation that makes it so popular. He goes in depth into the history and outlines the basic principles of it. It was created by therapist Carl Rogers. Both therapy and rhetoric try to induce change through verbal means. Rogers discovered while in his early stages of being a therapist that you can't convince people about ideas through just rational arguement. Rather a therapist should stay passive and use "restatement." The therapist repeats the words that the patient just said then offer probes to get the client to continue talking and expressing feelings. One uses empathy to facilitate conversation. there are 4 stages. 1. An introduction to the problem and a demonstration that the opponent's position is understood. 2. A statement of the contexts in which the opponent's position may be valid.
3. A statement of the writer's position, including the contexts in which it is valid.
4. A statement of how the opponent's position would benefit if he were to adopt elements of the writer's
position. If the writer can show that the positions complement each other, that each supplies what the
other lacks, so much the better.
I do believe that Rogerian Rhetoric is one of the best ways to have a civil argument. Too many editorials I see are just biased opinions by yelling columnists and citizens. Rogerian rhetoric gives some civility to an argument. By repeating the argument of your opponent until his satisfaction, you begin to hear his point of view more than if both of you just yell at each other. Finding common ground is important in all aspects of life especially during debate. It is good to see both sides of a story before making an opinion.
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