For the Greeks and Romans, an important aspect of the art of oratory was 'invention' - the process of identifying arguments to support a particular case. In the
Institutes of Oratory, the first-century rhetorician Quintilian discusses the 'places' of argument - the locations, figuratively speaking, from which lines of reasoning can be derived: 'Let us now examine the places of arguments, [by which I mean] the seats of arguments in which they lie concealed and from which they must be drawn forth.' In developing this discussion, Quintilian makes use of an interesting metaphor - or rather an interesting cluster of metaphors:
[A]s all kinds of fruits are not produced in all countries, and as you will be unable to find a bird or beast if you are ignorant where it is usually produced or makes its abode, and as among the several kinds of fishes, some delight in a smooth and others in a rocky bed, while particular sorts are confined to particular regions or coasts, and you could not attract the ellops or scarus to our shores, so every kind of argument is not to be got from every place and is consequently not everywhere to be sought. [...] [I]f we ascertain where particular arguments offer themselves, we shall, when we come to the place where they lie, easily discern what is in it.
The orator is a fisherman who knows the habits of each individual species - the haunts that it frequents, the 'particular coasts'. To build a case is to read the water and identify exactly which fish can be pulled from it. It's fascinating to me that Quintilian compares argumentation to such a practical skill as if the identification of a line of reasoning can become, in the end, virtually instinctual - comparable to the hunter or fisherman's sixth sense for the presence of the prey.
Title page of Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria, edited by Pieter Burmann the Elder, Leiden, 1720.
Hugh me and Steve went fishing yesterday. I sat with a fisherman, who showed me how to 'read' the water. I watched my float, and he would say 'you are going to get a bait' he could see the fish nibbling the bait, but I couldn't'. Every time, before I spotted he would say, 'look you've got one'. I would pull and there would be a fish. We talked a lot about reading the water and how he could see when a fish would come. There was a moment when the water went very quiet and then a big fish was underneath. I caught it but it got away.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing was the fish I caught. The first fish I caught was a perch, and I was scared to hold it. It was a male perch. Perch are predators, and they have spiky fins. The fish emitted a white substance which was a bit strange. It jumped out of my hand.
The second fish was a roach. I loved this fish, and held it. It has silvery scales and nice orange fins and sat quietly in my palm. Then I caught another perch and I felt the feeling of aggression that came off the fish. I felt its teeth. Then finally I caught a Rudd. This was a sweet little fish, very pretty, with red fins and slivery scales. I loved the Rudd.
I caught 4 fish, Steve 2 and Hugh 6. I still do not believe Hugh as every time I looked at him he was sitting looking at the water. I could have stayed by the pond until the light went.
I found much of what we had been discussing about contemplation and wisdom to strike true with our fishing trip. I was very quickly set up with the rod and line and I found I was 'doing' straight away rather than being told. Martin who was teaching me how to fish told me very little technical stuff until I began to ask him. I waited for a long time to catch a fish and he showed me how to throw in extra maggots and to change the position of the hook with regards to the bottom of the pond by changing the float. Once we 'got it right' I caught quite a few fish in a relatively short time (which Kate refuses to believe) and when they stopped biting we changed tactic again. I found staring at the float very calming and peaceful and enjoyed talking to Martin or sitting in silence, now and again throwing in some maggots. I caught 5 perch and a roach and Martin showed me how to be very careful with the fish once it was on the line, how to disgorge it quickly and how get it safely back into the water. Most of this we just did and didn't discuss. I am looking forward to going regularly now and will tell you what I did each week in these comments
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