As Whatley begins the era of rhetoric being viewed as a persuasive art form, an era that is still in full swing today, a dark issue arises: if the powers of rhetoric are (at least in part) destined for the swaying of minds, does this not create a huge potential for misuse of rhetoric, for evil deeds to be done with it?
This is a theme that has prevailed throughout the centuries worth of literature we've plowed through--Quintilian's good man speaking well, and Augustine's idea that the only place for rhetoric was in the church, to prevent it being used for wrongdoings. These concerns certainly hold some veracity--Hitler, perhaps one of the strongest rhetorician of the modern ages, persuaded an entire country that the wrong thing was the right thing. Whatley addresses this concern as well, but from a new inquisitive standpoint: does rhetoric's ability to be used for the wrong purposes make rhetoric itself evil?
No, he says. The intents of a rhetoric are a reflection on the rhetorician, not on rhetoric itself. Especially now, when it is so easy for information and biased interpretations of that information to enter our lives, this is a very important point to make. Our society does enjoy putting some blame on rhetoric--I'm sure it hasn't been very long since any of us have heard a complaint about "all the politics going on down there in Washington." The rhetoric that happens in the legislature is indeed harmful to society at times. But in reality, rhetoric is a tool, like a gun, that can be used for good or bad purposes, and it is up to the wielder to determine the morality of her actions. (That's right, this is a gun control metaphor now.)
I agree with your metaphor of rhetoric as a tool. I've been consistently surprised by how many of the writers we have read, who I had always heard of as being wise and the foundation of modern western thought and so on, seemed absolutely idiotic. The idea that someone has to be a good person to be a good writer, or that there is any connection between the two whatsoever, seems to be about as obviously flawed a concept as...nothing comes to mind. I cant remember the last time I heard an idea that seemed so far off the deep end I couldn't even grasp where they were coming from.
ReplyDeleteI believe some of the earlier writers may have hoped every writer would be a good person, but I am entirely clueless what they could have looked at in the world to draw the conclusion.