Rhetoric, Religion, and Secular Humanism. (Op-Ed)
Burke, Richard, Free Inquiry
"Rhetoric" is not necessarily high-flown language, and it is not necessarily manipulative language either. Aristotle defined rhetoric as communication in which the "speaker" and the "audience," as well as the form and content of the "speech," are relevant to the understanding of its meaning (Rhetoric, I,i). Politics and advertising are mostly rhetorical by this definition, but science is not: its "speech" (theories based on solid evidence) is determinative, regardless of who says it to whom. And philosophy, ideally at least, is like science in this respect: its arguments are expected to stand on their own merits, without appeal to authority or popularity. This distinction is …
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Publication information:
Article title: Rhetoric, Religion, and Secular Humanism. (Op-Ed).
Contributors: Burke, Richard - Author.
Magazine title: Free Inquiry.
Volume: 22.
Issue: 3
Publication date: Summer 2002.
Page number: 22+.
© 1999 Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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