Microdosing Philosophy: Recent Episodes
Steve Cavan
Here I will review a few basic concepts and terms of logic that we will use in the following episodes. I want to clarify statements and propositions, and the difference between valid and sound arguments.
Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation involves three ideas: exigence, audience, and constraints. In this episode, I discuss the importance of constraints. Constraints are an essential element of a persuasive appeal. They can make or break a rhetorical audience.
Two elements that create a rhetorical situation are exigence and audience. What is a rhetorical exigence & rhetorical audience?
In 1968 Bitzer offers a revolutionary way of thinking about rhetoric. He points out that we use rhetoric much more often than we might expect, and that Aristotle's three modes of appeal fall short in understanding the rhetorical needs. Bitzer's theory is a Copernican revolution in rhetorical theory.
Booth's Rhetorical Stance develops Aristotle's rhetorical Triangle idea by stressing the importance of a flexible balance between the modes of appeal. If any mode of appeal is pushed too far and given too much weight, we have a corruption of communication.
Here is a quick summary and review of the Modes of Appeal. These modes are the basic tools we use for persuasion.
What is rhetoric? Aristotle provides us with a basic framework for approaching the art of persuasion. Let's have a quick look at his rhetorical triangle and how it might be applied to a job interview.
Stoicism was one of the most influential schools of philosophy in Rome. I will outline some of its main features.
Plato now explores two important themes. First, we see the role of Ideas or Forms taking shape. The answer to ethical relativism will require some metaphysical work. Second, we see a Platonic notion of the psyche or soul take shape.
Plato's Phaedo is one of his most famous dialogues. It features Socrates in his prison cell on his day of execution. I will mention some of the important friends who were visiting Socrates that day, and I will explore some of the issues raised. Part two will look at how the theory of Forms is developed.
Socrates meets Euthyphro by the archon office, the archon in charge of the courts. Socrates is facing charges of impiety and Euthyphro is charging his father with impiety. Socrates suggests that Euthyphro must know what piety is if he is going to bring such serious charges against his father. In a good aporetic fashion, Socrates will reveal that Euthyphro does not know what he thinks he knows. This dialogue also demonstrates important points of logic.
I will say just a few words about Plato's life and the influences on his writing. His first calling in life was dramatic poetry, and this background follows through into his dialogues.
Socrates influenced many great thinkers. I offer just a few highlights of his life and thought which completely altered the development of philosophy.
Here are some thoughts on Aristotle's approach to the idea of soul or psyche. It explains our unity, but also touches on our nous/intellect and how we grasp the world.
Aristotle floated a preliminary idea about a primary substance in the Categories. He suggested the primary substance could be the individual such as Socrates because all the other categories depend on that individual thing for their existence. But after introducing the idea of matter and the other causes, he sees a problem. The individual thing cannot be the primary substance. It must be the species-form.
Aristotle introduces four causes (explanations) for change: material, formal, efficient, and final. These are easy to understand when applied to material constructions, but it is essential to understand how he applies them to living things.
In section 2 of his Grioundwork, Kant expands on some earlier themes, and introduces the idea of the Categorical Imperative.
Kant takes the discussion of morality in a new direction, and challenges some central ideas of the Utilitarians. Happiness cannot be a guide to moral action. The only purely good thing in the world is a good will.
David Hume's empiricism rattled the bones of Kant. Hume's attack on causality and ethics pushed Kant to respond with two books: A Critique of Pure Reason & A Groundwork of a Metaphysics of Morals.
Ethical relativism seems to pop up regularly in classes on ethical topics. It can become a huge distraction or digression from the topics at hand. I think it is ultimately a waste of time. If you are interested in following some of the arguments about relativism I suggest a look at these two short books:
A Refutation of Moral Relativism by Peter Kreeft
Ethics: A Very Short Introduction by Simon Blackburn
Bentham's Hedonic Utilitarianism did not distinguish types of pleasures, and so faced an attack that it was a pig's philosophy. A pig would be happier than Socrates. Mill suggests an answer to this attack: Eudiamonia. We need to aspire to higher pleasures for a good life.
Bentham explains why we need to consider the consequences of our actions, and offers a tool for making dicisions. The estimation of pleasures and pains is called Hedonic calculus.He outlines 7 features, such as intensity, duration, and extent, which can affect the calculations.
18th C. Britain had a very brutal and unjust legal code. Bentham thought that the people who created laws and punishments needed to be guided by a rational principle, not by personal whims or biases. He proposed that we consider the utility of the laws and punishments for creating the greatest happiness and least pain for the community and its members. The principle of Utilitarianism should be the basis of our ethical, moral, and legal systems.
Episode One: Here is a quick view of the topics that will be covered in this course of lectures. I will touch on three major approaches to ethics: Utilitarianism, Deontologicalism, and Virtue Ethics.
This podacst series will examine various philosophers and philosophic theories primarily on questions of ethics and metaphysics. Plato and Aristotle will be the initial focus, but Bentham, Mill, Kant, and many others will appear as well.