Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
De Rhetorica et Virtutibus (On Rhetoric and the Virtues)
Rhetoric and virtue in the Carolingian court — the art of persuasion as the servant of justice and Christian governance
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | De Rhetorica et Virtutibus (On Rhetoric and the Virtues) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Both |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Finite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | not engaged |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | not engaged |
| Matter · Extent | Finite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | not engaged |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Mediate |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Tradition |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Finite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | not engaged |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
De Rhetorica et Virtutibus (On Rhetoric and the Virtues)
Both — divine eternity and created historical time. The dialogue's framework is the standard Carolingian-Augustinian one. Not primarily a cosmological text.
Space
De Rhetorica et Virtutibus (On Rhetoric and the Virtues)
Finite, substantival, three-dimensional. Not independently theorised — the work concerns rhetoric and ethics, not cosmology.
Matter
De Rhetorica et Virtutibus (On Rhetoric and the Virtues)
Created, finite, conserved. The embodied, speaking human being is the subject of rhetoric. Not independently theorised.
Observer
De Rhetorica et Virtutibus (On Rhetoric and the Virtues)
Embodied, active, rational. The rhetor/ruler must observe, judge, and persuade. Knowledge is mediate — acquired through study and practice. Personal metaphysical agency: the Christian God.
Energy
De Rhetorica et Virtutibus (On Rhetoric and the Virtues)
Conventional patristic framework. Not independently theorised.
Information
De Rhetorica et Virtutibus (On Rhetoric and the Virtues)
The De Rhetorica is itself a vehicle for transmitting Ciceronian rhetorical knowledge to the Carolingian court. Rhetoric is the art of organising and communicating information persuasively.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The transition from rhetoric to ethics in the dialogue is somewhat abrupt — the connection between Ciceronian persuasion and the cardinal virtues is asserted rather than argued. The work is derivative (closely following Cicero) rather than original, which is both its purpose (transmission) and its limitation (no independent rhetorical theory).