Rhetoric and Liberation

Thomas Kuhn

doi:10.13008/2151-2957.1196

Poroi Dec 2014 Open Access

Rhetoric and Liberation

Thomas Kuhn

Abstract

I come before you as Cassandra.There is much in this morning's papers with which I agree and even more which I find of interest.But there is also a common theme which deeply alarms me.In different ways and to different degrees, all three papers celebrate a new liberation, intellectual and political, which is to follow on the proper appreciation of rhetoric's place in human life.I believe that that impulse to celebration rests on a profound misconception of the human condition, a misconception here manifest in an insufficient respect for the intrinsic authority of language.Reading these papers I have repeatedly been reminded of the occasions during the sixties when my more radical students said to me: Thank you, Professor Kuhn, for telling us about paradigms; now that we know what they are, we can get on without them.For all my sympathy with the reforms those students sought, I knew (and thought I had taught them) that in that direction there was, in principle, no help to be had.In twenty minutes I shall not persuade you of my position, but I can perhaps suggest to you what it is.For the purpose I am fortunate to be able to start from Professor Rorty's paper.With many of its most important theses my agreement is wholehearted and

Journal: Poroi
Published: 2014-12-30
DOI: 10.13008/2151-2957.1196
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access: OA PDF Gold
Topics: rhetorical criticism
Export: BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (0)

No references on file for this article.

CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Rhetoric and Liberation

Abstract

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

References (0)

Related Articles