Even as I read the text from chapter 1
this week a couple of names immediately popped into my head as the universe’s
way of disproving theories that tout absolutes. One example of a great orator
that was not morally good that immediately sprung to mind was Adolf Hitler. As
a speaker he, or his speech writer, was a master of the use of the five cannons
of rhetoric. Enough so that he was able to take a country that had recently
been decimated in the first World War, and convince its people to rise from the
ashes of that defeat, and become a world power again in a mere 21 years. In
that short period of time he was also able to convince millions of people to
commit atrocious acts.
A better examination of history would
show that great speakers have incited people to commit acts that we consider as
morally evil for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. That is not to say,
however, that the Greek assumption that one must be morally good to be an
orator is wrong. Hitler “believed” that he was morally just to do the things he
did. One could argue that many, if not all, of the dictators of the past and present
felt morally justified in leading their peoples the way they did.
The connection between goodness, truth,
and public communication is only in the eye of the beholder. If the speaker can
convince his audience that he believes something is good and true, then that
can open the door for the audience to accept his beliefs as good and true.
I definitey agree with you 100%! I do not believe that a persona has to be morally good to be an orator. I too thought of Hitler when reading this chapter. He was a sick man, but in his mind, what he was doing was "divine". He was trying to maintain a pure race and he believe that his actions were just. If you have ever listened to any of his speeches (granted they must first be interpreted), you can see that he was very passionate about his beliefs and he was a very educated man and you can see that through his speeches or his autobiograhpy, "Mein Kempf". If you look around at our own politicians their morality is constantly in question and yet they stand behind their podiums speaking to us and we are just supposed to accept their answers because they are our leaders? I don't think the Greeks were 100% accurate in their belief, what worked for them, obviously does not work for everybody.
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
ReplyDeleteI think that your point of view is very accurate. I do not believe that a good speaker has to be morally good but, if the speaker believes that he is morally good and correct then it will definitely amplify his message. I think that the speaker has to have passion for what they are speaking whether or not they believe in what they say. However, your idea that they truly believe in what they are doing or saying makes the speaker more and more determined to sway their audience. Someone who is convinced that what they are doing is right will have the passion that I believe it takes to be a great public speaker.
I agree with you regarding goodness, truth, and public communication... However, I think. there is something above than just personal convenience and personal moral rules. We live in colorful country, where every one has it's right to believe in something he thinks is right, but there is the Law which states what is right and wrong... by the way, there was something in the very beginning, something the Law was based on....
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