The universal audience revisited

James L. Golden

pp. 287-304

in: James L. Golden, Joseph J. Pilotta (eds), Practical reasoning in human affairs, Berlin, Springer, 1986

Abstract

By common consent it is agreed that Perelman's idea of the universal audience is a central thesis in all of his writings on rhetoric. Because of the space which Perelman devoted to this issue, the subject has received considerable attention by students of argument; and this, in turn, has generated numerous responses from the author. Before proceeding to answer some of his critics shortly before his death, Perelman observed: "It is the notion of the universal audience which has created the most misunderstandings among my rhetorician readers."¹ Most of the misunderstandings that occurred, he reminded his critics in this essay, stemmed from their apparent misinterpretaion of what was said in parts of The New Rhetoric.²