{"id":35,"date":"2010-10-26T16:28:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-26T20:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/26\/the-purpose-of-language\/"},"modified":"2012-04-27T19:50:07","modified_gmt":"2012-04-27T23:50:07","slug":"the-purpose-of-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/26\/the-purpose-of-language\/","title":{"rendered":"The Purpose of Language?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Persuasion<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>The term \u2018persuasion\u2019 can be loaded. When\u00a0we try to persuade someone,\u00a0our persuasion may be loaded with\u00a0our agenda, with\u00a0our goals, and with\u00a0our opinions\u2014and that is a danger. It is a danger because\u00a0we are flawed human beings.\u00a0We make mistakes in\u00a0our beliefs, in\u00a0our thinking, and in\u00a0our actions. Furthermore, life is not all about \u2018us and\u00a0our opinions\u2019\u2014not even if\u00a0we happen to get everything right. Not even if\u00a0we go to the right church, have the right political opinions, live a virtuous life, etc.<\/div>\n<p><strong>Getting it Right<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>But then the bigger picture is this\u2014that life is not all about \u2018getting it right\u2019 (whatever &#8216;it&#8217; is). So &#8230;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">1. What is Classical Writing&#8217;s aim?<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">2. Why write books about argumentation and proofs if &#8216;being right&#8217; does not matter?<\/div>\n<p><strong>Communication<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>What are we trying to effect when we communicate\u2014be it with humans, God, self, animals, plants, or any other object or place in creation?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>What is the purpose of communication?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em>To get what\u00a0we want? To influence people for good? To love others? To change the world to be a better place?<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Rhetoric and Communication<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>All communication is done by use of rhetoric, whether we are aware of it or not. And it is not just in the way we use language. Language is just one part of communication. (It so happens that language generally is the most precise vehicle for communicating complex concepts.)<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Facial expressions and body language are also critical for communication, especially in the appeals of ethos and pathos. But when\u00a0we discuss the role of material logic as related to the canon of invention, body language will not get us far.<\/div>\n<p><strong>Harsh Words<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>There is a time and a place in our world for words, even critical, harsh words and brutal debate. Civilization, after all, exists because men often decide to argue rather than to come to blows over issues.\u00a0But are our argumentative skills weapons we wield in self-service to prove to other men that we are right?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211; lmj<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Persuasion The term \u2018persuasion\u2019 can be loaded. When\u00a0we try to persuade someone,\u00a0our persuasion may be loaded with\u00a0our agenda, with\u00a0our goals, and with\u00a0our opinions\u2014and that is a danger. It is a danger because\u00a0we are flawed human beings.\u00a0We make mistakes in\u00a0our beliefs, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/26\/the-purpose-of-language\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-classical-education","category-classical-writing-method","tag-argumentation-persuasion","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2o4IY-z","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40,"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.classicalwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}