Rhetoric as knowledge

A proper assessment of the relation between discourse structure and speaker's communicative inten-tions requires a better understanding of communicative intentions. This contribution proposes that there is a crucial difference between intending the hearer to entertain a certain belief (or desire, or intention), and intending to affect the strength with which the hearer entertains the belief (or desire, or intention). Rhetoric, if defined as a body of knowledge about how discourse structure affects the strength with which a discourse participant entertains beliefs, desires, and intentions, can be seen to play a precise and crucial role in the planning of discourse. 1 Communicat ive In tent ions It is commonly assumed that in engaging in communication, tile speaker 1 (S) has a specific com-municative intention. Communicative intentions relate to that domain that the use of language can affect, namely the mental state of the hearer (H), i.e., H's beliefs, desires, and intentions. Of course, S may have other intentions that relate to tile world at large (such as to get H to open a window), but these are not properly speaking eonnnunicative intentions: they can only be achieved by use of language if language first produces ome appropriate change in H's mental states. In discussing the ways in which S's use of language can affect H's mental states, it is importan