The Order of Things...

I posted a previous article on this subject:

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

I'm going to change the order here because I think it presents these terms in a correct form to better understand how construction of good arguments can hold water.

More on Logos:

Logos means an utterance or a 'word'. All arguments are constructed of the words themselves and how they fit together. It focus' on the abstract and rational part  of reasoning. Logos doesn't rely on emotions, moral values, and feelings to construct an argument. It is based on the If/Then statements in the syllogistic blue print.

Examples: This product is good. Therefore you should buy it. This person is good as a candidate for office. Therefore you should vote for him.

More on Ethos:

Appealing to the character of the speaker or writer. It also includes general ethical and moral systems. Ethos includes references to principles in behavior that cannot be proven by syllogisms alone. It relies on a shared or assumed moral or ethical system. But, logic needs to be in place because a listener or reader needs to follow a cause and the effect it creates. The human component has to be included or else you run the risk of getting anyone to care about the subject being deliberated. This is where Pathos comes into play...

More on Pathos:

This is the last note in this triad of reasoning. Pathos is always included in an argument. It can be a major or minor component in its delivery. Even when you're just looking for the facts alone there is at least enough pathos inside it to ask the listener to pay attention because it is important.

Pathos is like adding yeast to the sterile flour of logic. It helps it to grow and rise by putting a human face on difficult issues of discussion. Including bits of gossip in your dialog is useful because people are always interested in what others are doing and are more likely to pay attention to the ethics involved.

Points to consider:

All arguments include logos, ethos, and pathos. The hard part is adding them in the right proportions. The trick is to choose an effective balance. Lawyers like to say "when the facts support your case, argue facts. When the law supports it, then argue law. And when neither the facts nor the law work, pound on the table to support your point with pathos.

When analyzing rhetoric, people should be wary of pathos because it often has the effect of short circuiting reason. But, ignoring it completely is very dangerous because in larger bureaucratic groups and impersonal corporate structures it's easy to forget about individual human rights and suffering...

Click for more on this subject matter..

The Possibilities of Propaganda!

Balance

Interpretations, evaluations, and bias

Too many questions involving who's right and who's wrong. There are more interesting questions to ask. Reading slowly often helps in mitigating some of the bias' involved. At least slow enough to see the presence of its ever present sense lurking in the shadows.

Is there a conflict between a books explicit meaning verses any unacknowledged implications or sub-texts a piece may contain?
What assumptions might lie behind any interpretation?
How can an artful reader bring their own bias' and assumptions out into the open?
What kind of reader do you want to be?

Often, when searching for interpretations, one stumbles upon facts that can change the whole outlook of an evaluation or analysis. What do you do with a new fact when it goes against a bigger group of facts already stating an explanation? Do you let your bias' get in the way and throw it in the garbage heap? Do you try to burn a truth out of existence before anyone else can see it?

Interpretation is defined as an explanation. The meaning must not be specifically obvious. It involves unlocking a secret or solving a mystery. Interpretation also involves discovering the subtext in the descriptions. Do you sense a character keeping something from the reader? Do you as the reader find the places that are revealing in the subtext?

Interpretation is designed to take an artful reader past what is obvious and should not be surprised when different interpretations come into conflict. For an Artful Reader disagreement is not a sign to indicate something may be wrong. It is an indication that you may be actually getting somewhere.

That means taking time for a little self discovery.

Are you the main character of the story of your life?
How many diapers have you changed?
What if all the cognitive bias' are like a novel going on in your head?

I suppose a famous novelist could have something great to say about the question at hand. I'd love to hear any of them.

Maybe it's something like creating characters to fit certain personas to carry on specific story lines in ones life: One for work, one for play, one for when you think no one is looking. As long as you manage to not lie to yourself (even with the characterizations) a certain sense of balance can be achieved.

Doing your own biography and dividing it up into different phases of your life helps to slow down emotional outbursts. Knowing your own triggers and their histories and creating characters for them shapes a new form of understanding within the self. Answering truthfully to yourself why others seemed to get in the way of an instant satisfaction or a personal agenda. The stages, the ups and downs, and everything sideways and in between that comes with being too selfish.

I think understanding your own personal history helps to listen to another's POV with a more patient bearing. Contingent upon being totally honest with yourself....at least. Very hard thing to do in this world filled with chains of desires and addictions to numerous to count. Never lie to yourself.

Honesty with others? That depends on so many factors working together. Tricky Dicky, Murphy and his cohorts, and Finnegans wake always get in the way. How many times does a person screw themselves in life by hurting another?

I guess learning to be a narrator in the story of your life helps bring a balance to things. After all, it is just A story. One of many. Is it a good one? Is the hidden diary of your heart honest? Or is just told with fancy jargon and bloated juxtaposition bringing the victor (yourself) all the spoils of triumph without paying a price. Sanitizing the tale for future generations to follow and possibly emulate. What lies we tell ourselves to make it all better.

How many monuments to the self in history have been erected?
How many of them do we look up to still or even remember?
How many are we going to tear down?
What about our own personal monuments to ourselves?

They offer an array of satire to describe all sorts of ludicrous nonsense from politics to the small things in everyday life. Including everybody involved in our own little worlds. Don't forget about the giant individuals of influence who affect all our everyday lives. Their ssspheres of influence are large. Still, many more are beginning to pay attention to the larger worlds around them. Especially through the internet. The influences that control our lives. Layer by layer. The little ones, the big ones. Right on up to the top of the pyramid....grouped in categories to better serve you.

Dante's Divine Internet: Enter if you dare...

Would you like a reading?

Expanding the definition of fun.

Artful reading enlarges our sense of language and understanding.

Most of today's reading is done to extract information and discard it once it's used. Artful reading takes the time to appreciate a thoughtful phrase or a nifty turn of words.

Here are some questions to consider:

What do you bring to your reading?
Is there an anticipation?
Ever re-read a paragraph because you thought it was beautifully put together; just for the simple pleasure of it?
How about Laughing out loud at some unexpected word play?
How many times do you return to a book you've read before and found new nuggets of understanding?
Are the words casual?
Refined?
Shifty?
Any disguises in fallacy?
What is the mood?
Is it formal or informal in language?

Literary fiction is alive and well. Classic literature gives us the examples for the many tools used by the past masters. Modern masters have taken this classic approach and added many more mediums of language to communicate our current modes of story telling. Humans have come a long way since the old fireside stories of the past.

Techno friction is a huge and growing epidemic. How many juxtapositions are artificially driven?

Confusion is a common approach to story telling. Juxtaposition is a common device used to portray a decent set of twisted images. A good writer will show the viewer all the twists and turns. Sometimes they're multi layered and offer new directions to explore when re-reading a particularly favorite book or story.
 

More on the Art of Reading

Twilight Language - Tricky Polysemy

Twilight language is used in occult circles where it is said only initiates can understand the signs and the symbols. That's just the surface. It's deeper than that. It uses word meanings to describe different things. Multiple definitions of time and space all combined and used to confuse everyone who listens to it. Without knowing its layered technique a listener can become distracted and a sort of cognitive dissonance occurs. Making it easier for the speaker to insert a resolution from an outside source. The listener is then weakened enough to buy the bullshit.

 

One ingredient for twilight language is the pun or pun(dit). It is used extensively in the media. Combined with hypnotizing images and sound frequencies a gamut of control is run upon the minds of human beings. All of these things put together encourage a morbid fascination with spectacles of fantastic nothings starring doe eyed nobodies. Manipulation goes far beyond just painting subliminal sex into clouds in the sky.

Check out Buddhist symbolism for more.

A related term...

Polysemy - One word used to describe different things. Also can include phrases, symbolic poetic imagery, and different forms of jargon. Example: Look up the word monster in Webster. Then look up the same word in an old law dictionary. Some words have up to 30 meanings. They're meant to hit the senses on a deeper level. They are always done on purpose and are especially used in an historical sense; over time words change their meaning but can still be twisted to serve more than one purpose of meaning.

Perhaps this is why it is difficult to teach these in class. It relates to etymology (origins of words) which takes time and study. Worthy study for a greater historical sense in meaning.

Often, judging how Polysemes are related makes them ambiguous and vague in nature. I think this works with all languages in one form or another as problems arise when non-native speakers learn a new language. At least it's seen when learning English. Inside information can be conveyed using this device.