audience, and proof or apparent proof (Aristotle 620).
Although McKeon says that for Aristotle it was the audience which determined the particular mode or modes of persuasion suited to a particular speech, in fact it is the speaker himself who must assess the audience and select the appropriate mode or modes. That is the crucial point at which the reasoning powers of the speaker come into play. Certainly, the speech itself must include persuasive elements, but if the speaker's reason fails at the mode selection stage, the effectiveness of the speech will more likely be limited.
In other words, Aristotle based his rhetorical analysis on the logic and reason of the speaker, not of the audience. Despite the fact that the very purpose of life was happiness which was in turn based on reason and the golden mean, apparently Aristotle felt that it was acceptable and even inevitable that an effective spe
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