STASIS THEORY Source: Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students

Stasis Theory Stasis theory refers to the place where two disputants “stand” – i.e. the place where they agree to disagree, where both agree something is at issue

Stasis theory is about the status of arguments, about the kind of issues they address

Did/does something happen? I.e.,Is there an act to be considered?

What is its nature? I.e.,How can the act be defined?

What is its quality? I.e., how serious is the act?

What action(s) should be taken. I. e What action(s) should be taken? I.e., should this act be submitted to some formal procedure?

Is There an Act to Be Considered? How Can the Act Be Defined? ARGUMENTS OF CONJECTURE

ARGUMENTS OF VALUE/EVALUATION How Serious Is the Act? Is It: Good or Bad? Beautiful or Ugly? Right or Wrong? ARGUMENTS OF VALUE/EVALUATION

Should This Act Be Submitted to Some Formal Procedure? ARGUMENTS OF PROPOSAL

Mary is accused of theft Move to question of Conjecture: Did she do it or not?

If we agree “yes, Mary took the necklace,” then . . . Move to question of Definition (what is its nature): Was it theft? (She might have borrowed it.)

If we agree that the act can be defined as theft, then. . . Move to question of value: Was it right or wrong? (The theft might be justified on any number of grounds—she took the necklace intending to return it to another friend from whom it had been taken.)

If we agree the theft was wrong, then . . . Move to a question of procedure: Should Mary be tried for the offense?

Questions of Conjecture/Definition Does it exist? Is it true? Where did it come from? How did it begin? What is its cause? Can it be changed? What kind of thing or event is it? To what larger class of things does it belong? What are its parts? How are they related?