Rhetoric between Science and Art in Light of the Book: “al-Naz’ah al-Falsafiyya fi al-Fikr al-Naqdi wa al-Balaghi al-Qadim: Ru’ya Ma’rifiyya” by Ali Saddiki

Abstract

This paper seeks to discuss one of the many issues addressed by researcher Ali Saddiki in his book “al-Naz’ah al-Falsafiyya fi al-Fikr al-Naqdi wa al-Balaghi al-Qadim: Ru’ya Ma’rifiyya” [The Philosophical Tendency in Ancient Critical and Rhetorical Thought: An Epistemological Vision], namely, the issue of rhetoric between science and art. In this book, Ali Saddiki adopts the scientificity of rhetoric, and believes that rhetorical works that focused on the taxonomical aspect of rhetoric chronicle a phase that reflects scientific and epistemological advancement in the history of Arabic rhetoric. We have attempted to examine the cognitive and functional dimensions of this view, and to identify its most important features in pushing rhetoric toward development and codification. In contrast, we have considered the other view, which holds that rhetoric is an art based on textual appreciation, the art by which literature is analyzed and its texts are understood. Proponents of this view believe that the strength of their opinion lies in connecting rhetoric to its function, which is textual analysis.