Deploying the Topics
Greg B. Leichty · 2018
Early rhetoricians developed topical systems to aid the process of finding and “inventing” arguments. Aristotle distinguished between common topics that were considered to be potentially applicable to all genres of argumentative discourse and special topics that only applied to certain genres of discourse. Though the topics have been a consistent feature of rhetorical practice for 2500 years, they have resisted systemization. They are an eclectic assortment of tools that operate at various levels of abstraction thus lack a core essence. The chapter reviews how Topical systems have developed. It also describes classical and contemporary topical systems that have been applied to organizational discourse. Additional suggestions are made for further developing and applying topical systems in areas such as employee communication and issues management.