Henry Johnstone Jr.

Henry Johnstone Jr. (1920 – 2000) was an American philosopher and rhetorician known especially for his notion of the "rhetorical wedge" and his re-evaluation of the ad hominem fallacy. He was Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University (1952–1984) and began studying Classics in the late 1970s. He was the founder and longtime editor of the journal Philosophy and Rhetoric and edited the Journal of Speculative Philosophy. Johnstone states that by using ad hominem "the clear mind can exploit the inconsistencies of the confused one. The force of this exploitation is to invite the latter to abandon ambiguity and incoherence."

Connection between philosophy and rhetoric

Early in his career, Johnstone viewed rhetoric as simply a means of deceiving the audience into believing a certain assertion made by the orator. He viewed philosophy in a more noble and truth-seeking light: "No philosopher worthy of the name would wish to secure assent to his position through techniques concealed from his audience." He believed that arguments must be tested by the criticism of colleagues, not by concealing the truth: "The philosopher is obligated to tell the truth." Rhetoric serves as a wedge, because it helps individuals better understand, rationalize, and make judgments. Therefore, if individuals already knew everything, there would be no need for rhetoric as a means of interpreting data. This process proceeds by a bilateral exchange of responses. Although one may not respond to the orator, one does in one's own mind and perhaps writes a critique. They state that rhetoric serves as a wedge in deliberative and forensic speech, but not in epideictic. Mentioning Aristotle's advice that when the audience and speaker are already aligned in terms of a particular consciousness, the speaker need only to amplify and celebrate this consciousness, they conclude: "While this celebration is not a wedge, since it calls attention to nothing the audience did not already believe, it is a bridge." Scholars in both the fields of philosophy and rhetoric attribute to Johnstone significant advances in argumentation: "Johnstone's focus on the transaction of arguing had an immediate impact within the U.S. argumentation and debate community, directing attention to the normative aspects of controversy." His extensive work on ad hominem argumentation provoked a serious reexamination among philosophers. Many accredit him for adequately showing that ad hominem argumentation was quite typical surrounding philosophical writings, and had much broader use than previously thought.

Books