Barry Brummett wrote an essay that attempted to define terms. He grappled with and presented three possible interpretations of the phrase "rhetoric is epistemic." He tells us that this phrase, depending on the lens through which it is understood, can mean any one or all of the following things:
1) Communication is the only way we can arrive at Knowledge or a single, universal Truth.
2) Truths are multiple and complex, and communication or discourse is the only way we can understand some of them.
3) Our Truth is entire dependent on communication: the Truth is malleable and changes as we change how we communicate about it.
But, like, why does this matter?
In a class entitled Writing in a Digital Age, why would we care about how we create or interpret truth or whatever?
Because that's what we do every day, always, every time we communicate ever.
We're living in a pretty dense and lush historical moment; we are at the highest height of communication that we've ever historical been. That's major. As the world draws nearer to the point of total human interconnectedness via the internet, how will our beliefs and truths be altered? How will our language be altered? How will our altered language change the way we perceive truth?
As I write this post, I am aware that, like, seven people are going to look at it. BUT! it could be seen by billions of people because of the ubiquity of the internet as a communicative platform. That's why this matters. Because our understanding of the epistemology of rhetoric (I tend to ally myself more with the third interpretation) will shape-- is shaping-- the way that we communicate and the result of that communication. New words, new definitions, and new understandings all contribute to the way we perceive ourselves and our world. In what ways will we be able to communicate reflexively about ourselves as humans when every human has a voice in a constant, all-inclusive conversation?
1) Communication is the only way we can arrive at Knowledge or a single, universal Truth.
2) Truths are multiple and complex, and communication or discourse is the only way we can understand some of them.
3) Our Truth is entire dependent on communication: the Truth is malleable and changes as we change how we communicate about it.
But, like, why does this matter?
In a class entitled Writing in a Digital Age, why would we care about how we create or interpret truth or whatever?
Because that's what we do every day, always, every time we communicate ever.
We're living in a pretty dense and lush historical moment; we are at the highest height of communication that we've ever historical been. That's major. As the world draws nearer to the point of total human interconnectedness via the internet, how will our beliefs and truths be altered? How will our language be altered? How will our altered language change the way we perceive truth?
As I write this post, I am aware that, like, seven people are going to look at it. BUT! it could be seen by billions of people because of the ubiquity of the internet as a communicative platform. That's why this matters. Because our understanding of the epistemology of rhetoric (I tend to ally myself more with the third interpretation) will shape-- is shaping-- the way that we communicate and the result of that communication. New words, new definitions, and new understandings all contribute to the way we perceive ourselves and our world. In what ways will we be able to communicate reflexively about ourselves as humans when every human has a voice in a constant, all-inclusive conversation?
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