Friday is for Philosophy and Rhetoric!
2/3/17
Have you ever met a speaker who seems to have all the subtlety of a sledge hammer? While it is certainly a tool which can open a door, so is a doorknob. The rhetorician develops the art of speaking well.
Quintilian, and J.S. Watson. Institutes of Oratory. Edited by Lee Honeycutt, 2010. Kindle Electronic Edition. Book II, Chapter 12.
Quintilian asks why “the unlearned appear to speak with more force than the learned” (Quintilian II.12.1). He compares this attitude to one that finds it superior to break down a door rather than open it. “There is also a certain affinity between particular excellences and faults, in consequence of which a railer passes for a free speaker, a rash for a bold one, a prolix for a copious one” (Quintilian II.12.4). Quintilian observes that while the unlearned speaker may sometimes be right, it is not with the consistency, ease, and accuracy of someone with training in rhetoric. He describes the kind of antics used in sections 9-10. What is worse, though, is when teachers of rhetoric (so-called) abandon what they should have known, and teach others the kind of foolish tactics used by the unlearned.
All the work of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry, including this blog, is supported by the generosity of people like you. Please consider joining our team of prayer and financial supporters. Read more here!
2/3/17
Have you ever met a speaker who seems to have all the subtlety of a sledge hammer? While it is certainly a tool which can open a door, so is a doorknob. The rhetorician develops the art of speaking well.
Quintilian, and J.S. Watson. Institutes of Oratory. Edited by Lee Honeycutt, 2010. Kindle Electronic Edition. Book II, Chapter 12.
Quintilian asks why “the unlearned appear to speak with more force than the learned” (Quintilian II.12.1). He compares this attitude to one that finds it superior to break down a door rather than open it. “There is also a certain affinity between particular excellences and faults, in consequence of which a railer passes for a free speaker, a rash for a bold one, a prolix for a copious one” (Quintilian II.12.4). Quintilian observes that while the unlearned speaker may sometimes be right, it is not with the consistency, ease, and accuracy of someone with training in rhetoric. He describes the kind of antics used in sections 9-10. What is worse, though, is when teachers of rhetoric (so-called) abandon what they should have known, and teach others the kind of foolish tactics used by the unlearned.
All the work of Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry, including this blog, is supported by the generosity of people like you. Please consider joining our team of prayer and financial supporters. Read more here!
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