The Art of Persuasion: Mastering Rhetorical Techniques
Chapter 1: The Power of Concession
Concession: Rhetorical jujitsu that uses your opponent’s move to your advantage. (Let’s tweak it)
Manipulation: Instruction
The ancients considered rhetoric the essential skill of leadership—knowledge so important that they placed it at the center of higher education.
Amplification: It’s a form of an essential rhetorical tactic that turns up the volume as you speak (infomercials).
Great argument does not always mean elaborate speech; though the most effective rhetoric
Read MorePlato’s Allegory of the Cave and its Relevance
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Historical Context
Plato was born in 427 B.C. during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Athens was in crisis, with aristocrats imposing tyranny after the Thirty Tyrants’ rule. This led to the abolishment of democracy and subsequent civil war. After democracy was restored, Socrates was condemned to death. This crisis extended to the cultural sphere, as the economic downturn halted the grand architectural projects of the 5th century B.C.
Witnessing these events,
Read MoreNietzsche’s Philosophy: Overcoming Nihilism and the Will to Power
Overcoming Nihilism in Nietzsche’s Thought
The Tragedy as a Representation of Life
The opposition of the will to power represents the Apollo-Dionysus opposition. With two art deities, Apollo and Dionysus, our knowledge of the Greek world binds a monstrous antithesis, source, and goals. Both drives are so different in companionship that they perpetuate the struggle of that antithesis, finally generating the matching artwork of Attic tragedy, which is Dionysian in the same way as Apollonian.
Tragedy
Read MoreSt. Thomas Aquinas: Reason, Faith, and the Nature of Being
St. Thomas Aquinas: Reason and Faith
Preliminary Question
To understand Thomist thought, we must address the scholastic problem: the compatibility of reason and faith. Reason alone can attain knowledge of the truths of the world (ontology), but about God, it can only say”what no” (natural theology). The God is, can only be known by man through reason, if it becomes the handmaiden of faith, to clarify their meaning (revealed theology).
Natural Theology
The Summa Theologica begins with questions of natural
Read MoreNietzsche’s Critique of Traditional Philosophy
Part 1: The Idiosyncrasies of the Philosopher
Nietzsche begins by discussing the idiosyncrasies of the philosopher, whom he describes as”these new philosopher” who are appearing on the horizon and can be summed up in their hatred of life itself becoming, and therefore, in their hatred of life. He accuses them of a lack of historical sense and a rejection of evolution. He compares them to mummies, meaning by this that they did not think new things, they took only what had been said.
Part 2: Reason
Read MoreKant’s Critique of Pure Reason: Exploring the Limits of Human Knowledge
Introduction
Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason is a seminal work in the history of philosophy. In it, Kant sets out to determine the limits of human knowledge and the potential of science as universal and necessary knowledge.
The Limits of Human Knowledge
Kant argues that all knowledge can be defined as a set of affirmations, or judgments. He classifies these judgments into two types:
* Analytic judgments are obvious and do not teach us anything new. * Synthetic judgments are not obvious and add
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