The Children of Aristotle

[Anonymous]

#383

Anne Francis Wysocki’s Introduction to Composing(Media) = Composing (Embodiment) posits a world that is largely unaware of the effects that media have on our bodies because of the tradition of disembodied logic within Western philosophy dating back to Plato that has led to a “hegemony of sight” (7).  She uses “sight” here sometimes literally, but more often as a metaphor for a disembodied seeing through the mind’s eye—the logical reasoning that has dominated Western philosophy’s search for transcendent, universal truths.

But writing teachers are as much the children of Aristotle as Plato.  Aristotle recognized persuasion as an art that was always grounded in a specific context with a real audience and which appealed not only to the mind’s eye through logos, but also to the body through pathos and ethos.

Western rhetoric has been fully embodied for 2400 years.  Trial by jury is a powerful, practical example, grounded in the belief that truth is contextual and the rights of citizens should be determined not merely by transcendent logic but by situated, real world audiences with shared values, and hearts as well as heads.  Versions of juries were used by the Greeks and Romans.  They are so deeply embedded in English tradition that their origin cannot be traced– but trial by jury was a critical right guaranteed by the Magna Carta in 1215.

Western philosophy has long sought to be disembodied; academics often seek objective truth with a limited sense of understanding as merely logical reasoning—a hegemony of sight.  But rhetoricians see the world as making complex arguments rather than stating simple truths.

No good trial lawyer would make the mistake of appealing only to logic, whether to a judge or a jury. (Judges have hearts and values too.)  Neither would any politician, marketer, advertiser or storyteller.

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