Today I had a wonderful tete-a-tete in my morning seminar. We were discussing what it means to import terminology from a specific discipline (rhetorical theory) into an area where the discipline’s terminology may not apply. How much “casuistic stretching” should we allow ourselves when analyzing, as rhetorical, practices not traditionally understood as rhetorical? When we … Continue reading
I have been critiquing the postmodern mode of argumentation, but I have said nothing about the content or purposes of the arguments themselves. Lest I seem ungenerous in my reading of an entire field of work, I hasten to add that the postmodern styles of argumentation can and do serve an important purpose. At their … Continue reading
In many cases, tracing the genealogy of an argument (the social, historical, and material forces that attended its formulation) doesn’t tell you whether the argument itself is right or wrong. What’s more, tracing genealogies only through the lens of ideological critique—Marxist, race, queer, feminist—will illuminate only one aspect of the complexity of an idea’s material, … Continue reading
Two posts ago, I opposed “critical thinking” to “civic engagement” insofar as their rhetorical trajectories are aimed in different directions: the former suggests thought, the latter suggests action. I came down reluctantly on the side of “critical thinking” as the god-term upon which arguments for humanistic education should be made. However, my description of the … Continue reading
There’s no such thing as life without bloodshed . . . I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. Those who are afflicted with this notion are the first ones to give up their souls, their freedom. Your desire … Continue reading
Wittgenstein hat geschrieben: Das Verstehen eines Satzes der Sprache ist dem Verstehen eines Themas in der Musik viel verwandter, als man etwa glaubt. Jetzt, eine Übersetzung . . . The understanding of a sentence in Language is more like the understanding of a theme in Music than one may think. This is said about spoken language, … Continue reading
Last night, I re-watched Munich, Spielberg’s second best film. (Jaws remains his masterpiece.) The film is about the kidnapping and murder of 11 Jewish athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and about Israel’s covert, systematic assassination of the terrorists involved in the plot. On the film’s DVD, Spielberg gives a brief introduction, saying … Continue reading
1 We all have something to say. 1.1 The internet allows everyone to say what he wants to say. 1.2 Everyone says what he wants to say. 2 When everyone speaks, no one is heard. 3 Why not throw my own voice into the mix? 3.1 At worst, I’ll continue being unheard. 4 Too bad we can’t heed the warning: 4.1 Wovon … Continue reading
