Has anyone seen the movie Thank You For Smoking? It's fantastic and really shows the power behind rhetoric, and what we talked about in class today, the moral issues behind rhetoric. Convincing an audience of something that isn't just or might even harm them.
Why did Socrates believe the ultimate goal of rhetoric was gaining power and not finding the truth? Is one better then the other according to him?
Not finding truth is why Socrates discounts the use of rhetoric, because it can be used to come to false truths. Gaining power, in Socrates mind, came in the form of coming to absolute truths. For him, having the possibility of arriving at false truths makes rhetoric a bad medium for thought delivery.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Lloyd Christmas shot Sam. It makes me think of some of the dumb (and dumber) things that come out of people's mouths, including yours truly. Is that rhetoric? If I think it's the truth then how can Socrates believe that it's something less than genuine? I suppose because I haven't acquired the knowledge then I'm not being honest about what I know, so therefore I'm lying if I say something I don't know absolutely to be true.
ReplyDeleteIf that is the case, then you can go ahead and throw all faith-based religions out the window, right? Unless Jesus speaks to you, you really don't know that he is "in you" until you die and either meet him or his counterpart in hell. But it isn't dishonest for a Christian to say that Jesus is inside them. They believe that. It's part of their faith. And you can't say that he's not inside them. Because you don't really know. And Socrates didn't know what lay beyond his own life's end. Some things you just have to judge based on faith. Where you put your faith says a lot about your values and the society you count yourself as a member of. Speaking from faith doesn't necessarily mean you're lying does it? Or does it?
Through history power is the ultimate goal for alot of people. Rhetoric has been used to do some morally wrong things, but it was effective none-the-less. Rhetoric gets used as the tool to get things accomplished, and if it seems to be failing, lies, and shouting matches are soon used to persuade the undecided masses. I guess I am still hung up on what is effective versus non-effective rhetoric. LOL.
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