Ethics and Rhetoric

1. Donna J. Kain East Carolina University Ethics and Rhetoric

2. Some History Donna Kain East Carolina University

3. Early Origins Greek origins Rhetoric developed as early forms of democracy required skills in argument and public speaking • Legal cases • Ceremonial Oratory • Philosophical debate • Political debate • Education in Rhetoric Donna Kain East Carolina University

4. Sophists Protagoras (c. 490 - c. 420 BCE) • Man is the measure of all things (that are, that they are; that are not, that they are not) • The weaker argument can be made to appear the stronger (through rhetoric) • Man cannot know about gods (agnosticism) Donna Kain East Carolina University

5. Sophists The Good • Concerned with public questions/issues • Considered the elusiveness of social truth • Maintained an ideal of reasoned debate The Bad (critiques of Sophism) • Used argument to support any position • Rejected absolute truths • Played on emotions Donna Kain East Carolina University

6. Plato (428-347 BCE) Plato’s Philosophy • Dialectic engagement (Socrates) • Dialogue • Reasoning to a high degree of probability Rejection of Rhetoric (as Sophism) • Rhetoric has no “subject” of its own • Rhetorical persuasion –vs–Platonic “truths” Donna Kain East Carolina University

7. Aristotle (384-322 BCE) Categorized ways of thought, reason, and expression into • Rhetoric • Dialectic • Logic • Poetics Donna Kain East Carolina University

8. Aristotle’s Ethics • Ethics is the study of what is involved in good actions (including the action of communicating) • Ethical action should be decided for its own sake (doing the right thing) rather than for money or success • Ethical judgments must be rhetorically argued to reveal intrinsic goodness Donna Kain East Carolina University

9. Aristotle’s Ethics • Virtue is a habit that can be cultivated—people should seek to be virtuous (ethical all the time) • Each person is responsible for his or her own character • Ethics derives from reason, ethical behavior must be reasoned behavior—we should have to think about our choices • Ideas based on intrinsic values but connected to the practical Donna Kain East Carolina University

10. Aristotle’s Ethics • Ethics is not reducible to law or politics though both should be ethical • Scientific and technical matters can be known with certainly and are therefore not subject to deliberation but to empirical investigation • Ethical decisions about science and technology (that require deliberation and rhetoric) relate to when and how to use them Donna Kain East Carolina University

11. Roman Rhetoric Romans were influenced by Greek ideas in • Government • Politics • Legal system • Rhetoric Roman Empire moved away from democratic practices under successive emperors—less need for public political debate Donna Kain East Carolina University

12. Roman Rhetoric/Ethics Cicero (106-43 BCE): Roman Statesman, soldier, rhetorician. Practicing rhetoric requires • Eloquence • Wide learning Quintilian (35-96 CE): Roman rhetorician (forensic), educator. Practicing rhetoric requires • Good character • Education in rhetoric Donna Kain East Carolina University

13. Medieval Period Medieval period in the west characterized by: • Rise of influence of the Christian Church • Monasticism • Fiefdoms/monarchies The role of rhetoric in public decision making diminishes Rhetoric applied to religious problems/goals Donna Kain East Carolina University

14. Medieval Rhetoric Augustine (354-430): Christian convert, monk, advocated • Logic & use of rhetoric to teach and defend Christian faith • Style—should match the purpose: subdued for teaching, grand style for moving people to action on important matters Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) • Application of logic to study of scripture • Love neighbor as self of primary importance Donna Kain East Carolina University

15. Renaissance • Re-establishment of humanism • Changes in political and economic structures • Developments in arts and sciences • Recovery of classical works • Monarchies • 1660—Royal Society of London—academics and scientists—wanted plain style to complement science and logic Donna Kain East Carolina University

16. Late Renaissance Francis Bacon (1561-1626): • Empirical study (practical inquiry) • Reason/senses influenced by perceptions • Communication is necessary for knowledge to become part of society Donna Kain East Carolina University

17. Toward the Modern Changes in the geo-political world Debates over • The relationships among science, philosophy, religion, politics • The relationships among knowledge and speech • The “socially constructed” nature of knowledge and communities of knowledge and practice Donna Kain East Carolina University

18. Toward the Modern Kant (1724-1804): • Empirical study (practical inquiry) though reason • Senses influenced by perceptions • Communication is necessary for knowledge to become part of society Donna Kain East Carolina University

19. Kant’s Ethics • Ethics based on duty and obligation (deontology) exercised through free will • Ethics is derived and understood from abstract reasoning about the principles that drive our actions; feelings and intuition are beside the point • Categorical Imperative: that because ethics derives from reason, what is ethical is universal and absolute Donna Kain East Carolina University

20. Kant’s Ethics • “Act in such a way that, if you had your way, the principle guiding your actions would become a universally binding law that everyone must act in accordance with…everyone, everywhere, and always without exception” • Act ethically not in response to laws but as a recognition of obligation • Duty is based on freedom—free will—the choice to decide otherwise Donna Kain East Carolina University

21. Kant’s Ethics • Humans all have the ability to reason • If we all reach decisions based on the categorical imperative, we would all act responsibly and similarly • Society functions when people act responsibly and similarly Donna Kain East Carolina University

22. Kant’s Ethics Problems/assumptions: • All people are capable of • self-reflection • Weighing judgments about actions • Willing to act in accordance with judgments • Science and technology can be judged by the ends to which they are directed, not just by effectiveness or expediency Donna Kain East Carolina University

23. Kant’s Ethics Making judgments in Kant’s system: • What would other ethical people decide in this situation? • How would I wish to be treated in this situation? • Is my behavior towards others a means to an end? Donna Kain East Carolina University

24. Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) • actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness • ultimate end… is an existence exempt as far as possible from pain, and as rich as possible in enjoyments, both in point of quantity and quality Donna Kain East Carolina University

25. Utilitarianism • Emphasizes usefulness • Judgments based on the greatest good for the greatest number of people • Coincides with the rise of science, technology, and industrialism • Focuses on the needs and desires of the masses? • Can neglect the welfare of the individual? Donna Kain East Carolina University

26. Feminist (and other) Perspectives Later developments in ethical thought but not without precedents • Respond to predominant themes in Western philosophy • Encompass contexts often dismissed in philosophical tradition (home, domestic issues, education of children, • Include perspectives and rights of marginalized groups Donna Kain East Carolina University

27. Feminist (and other) Perspectives Later developments in ethical thought but not without precedents • Concerned with personal as well as public relationships • Approach differently the connections among power, materiality, and justice • Explore issues of representations of self/other Donna Kain East Carolina University

28. bye! Donna Kain East Carolina University