Institutes of Oratory

CHAPTER II.

ON INVENTION.

INVENTION is the thinking out of arguments suitable for persuading, insofar as they are of that kind.
An argument, according to Cicero, is a probable discovery for creating belief. Cicero was the most influential Roman authority on rhetoric for Renaissance scholars like Vossius.
Some arguments are artificial, others are inartificial. The former must be both discovered and handled by the Orator; the latter are not discovered by the Orator, but are instead brought from elsewhere and merely handled by him. Artificial arguments are created through the speaker's skill, such as logic or emotional appeals. Inartificial arguments are external evidence, such as contracts, laws, or witness testimony.
Reasons or argumentations, character, and emotions.

Artificial arguments are of three kinds: logic, character, and emotions. original: "λόγοι, ἤθη, πάθη" Of these, logic original: "λόγοι" The reasons—whether of logic or of the arguments by which we teach—have argumentation as their form; but their matter is for the most part contingent things. serves for teaching; character original: "τὰ ἤθη" serves for winning favor; emotions original: "τὰ πάθη" serve for stirring the listener. The form of logic, or of the arguments by which we teach, is indeed argumentation; but the subject matter consists largely of contingent things.
These arguments are sought from topics, which are the sources and seats of arguments. The Latin "loci" (places) refers to mental "locations" or categories where an orator looks to find ideas for a speech.
Some topics are general, while others are special.
General topics are the dwellings of propositions common to all types of cases.
There are two of this kind. The first is the possible and the impossible. For whether persuasion or dissuasion is undertaken; or praise or blame; or accusation or defense: it must always be proved that something could or could not have happened, or can or cannot happen.
The other is the great or the small. This includes the topics of comparison, such as when it is shown that one thing is more or less useful than another, more or less honorable, or more or less just.
Special topics are the dwellings and seats of arguments proper to individual types of cases. Therefore, they vary according to the variety of those cases.

I. WHAT ORATORICAL INVENTION IS.

Since first and foremost we must see what we should say, and then how we should say it, it is clear that we correctly begin with Invention. Invention, therefore, is the thinking out of arguments suitable for persuading, insofar as they are of that kind. This means arguments that are approved either by all people or by many. For these alone are suitable for creating belief. This does not include things that are only approved by the wise, whether all of them, many of them, or the most highly regarded. And by this