Chapter 5 reading response

 In chapter five of Ancient Rhetoric’s the author starts to discuss the idea of logos. He explains that logos is the rational truth that is found through examining issues. One of the factors involved in finding logos is the premise or the statement made before the argument commences on a topic. Then he makes a connection with the fact that in order to make a premise true it must follow with one of the many types of reasoning such as dialectical reasoning in which the arguer is less certain of the truth of the premise but is accepted because those who have previously accepted it are deemed to have been wise therefore making it true. This theory however makes very little sense to me considering the fact that just because someone is smart doesn't mean they are always right. For example teachers are deemed to be wise individuals and I got in a argument with a teacher in high school about student rights involving bathroom privileges. Most people believed her to be right because she was “wise” but I proved her wrong by showing her the law. A good point the author makes about rhetorical reason involving probability is that the human mind makes connections that seem reasonable and what should happen but aren't always right. He goes on to use the example that a small weak person will not attack a large strong person which we know is not always true. His examples of deduction are quite interesting as well and make much more sense than the way the last chapter was explained. He talks about how if A is B and B is C then C is A which isn't always true. An amusing example of this was how he used the apple slogan to explain how silly this theory is. Overall the chapter laid down a much better explanation then the last about its topic. I was able to retain much more information and felt like I was wasting a lot less of my time.