Aristotle's Topics

During the 4th century B.C., Aristotle used the topics to help his students discover what could be said about a subject. The topics--in Greek "topoi" or literally "places" are categories of questions that can be asked. Aristotle divided the topics into common topics--those that were appliable to any subject--and special topics--those that applied only to particular subjects. The topics are summarized in the table below. Beneath the table is a link to a worksheet for using the topics.

Common Topics Special Topics
Definition
  • Genus
  • Species
Judicial
  • Justice / Injustice
Comparison
  • Similarity
  • Difference
  • Degree
Deliberative
  • Good or Bad
  • Worthy or Unworthy
  • Advantageous or Disadvantageous
Relationship
  • Cause and Effect
  • Antecedent and Consequence
  • Contraries
  • Contradictions
Ceremonial
  • Virtue
  • Vice
Circumstance
  • Possible and Impossible
  • Past Fact and Future Fact
 
Testimony
  • Authority
  • Testimonial
  • Statistics
  • Maxims
  • Laws
  • Precedents (Examples)
 
Adapted from Corbett, Edward P.J., and Robert J. Conners. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. 4th ed. New York: Oxford, 1999. 88-126.

Use this worksheet in MS Word or rich text format to help you use the topics to discover what you know and what can be known about your subject.

Links to Other Resources

Stock Issues in Argument   |   Toulmin Analysis   |   Burke's Dramatistic Pentad   |   The Tagmemic Matrix

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