This book introduces a new form of argumentative analysis: rhetorical heuremes. The method applies the concepts of heuristic thinking, probability, and contingency in order to develop a better understanding of complex arguments in classical oratory. A new theory is required because Greek and Roman rhetoric cannot provide detailed answers to problems of strategic argumentation in the analysis of speeches. Building on scholarship in Ciceronian oratory, this book moves beyond the extant terminology and employs a concept of heuristic reasoning derived from the psychology of decision making and mathematical problem solving. The author analyses selected passages from Cicero's forensic speeches where arguments of probability are deployed, and shows that the Sophistic concept of probability can link ancient rhetoric and modern theories of argumentation. Six groups of heuremes are identified, each of which represents a form of probabilistic reasoning by which the orator plays upon the perception of the jurors.

This book introduces a novel approach to the analysis and practice of persuasive speaking and writing: heuristic rhetoric. The new method has evolved to fulfil the need at universities, government departments, political organisations, business enterprises and other public institutions for a modern practical alternative to classical rhetoric, which is, in the author's view, no longer capable of giving a complete description of contemporary, predominantly mediatised, forms of public persuasive discourse, whilst other competing disciplines, such as critical discourse analysis or strategic manoeuvring, have not yet produced a set of tools, which have the comprehensive nature and practical orientation of Classical Greek and Roman rhetorical system. The book expounds heuristic rhetoric as an inter-disciplinary method to develop advanced skills of critical and strategic reasoning. Applying a novel set of principles for the strategic analysis of persuasive reasoning in complex rhetorical situations, the method emphasizes preparing and continuously adjusting argumentation according to the demands of unpredictable circumstances.