Rhetoric Argument Essay: The Quest For Truth

The quest for truth is both attractive and daunting. Logic provides us with a framework and systematic method of identifying arguments and following through to truth or falsehood. Through logical reasoning, we can identify what we might objectively agree upon, and what is subject to our interpretation. The effectiveness of our truth-seeking lies in our understanding of certainty, probability, truth that is demonstrable and non-demonstrable, and differentiation between our emotional and logical responses to persuasion. One of the largest obstacles to truth-seeking is the fallacy of all-out relativism, and the qualification of our emotional responses as reasonable. My objective is to define truth, explore what tools we have for thinking logically about truth, and to find wisdom in a balance between our feelings and our thoughts about truth. Truth can be defined as that which is undeniable. The quest to define truth could begin with Axioms, or what Aristotle referred to as “First Principles”, being “the first basis for which a thing is …show more content…
Rhetoric is the study and art of persuasion. Through rhetorical analysis, we may come to assess whether or not we can accept the persuader’s argument, and so choose what we accept as truth. One very common rhetorical device is Pathos, which is defined as the appeal to emotion. An effective persuasion is one which at its root appeals to Logos, our logical reasoning. If there is no reason to the rhetorical rhyme, the value of the argument is lost in that it would be unreasonable to be emotionally moved over nothing. To use the appeal to emotion as the only vehicle in the persuasion of an argument is at best fallacious, and at worst deceptive and manipulative. The appeal to emotion paired with a sound or cogent appeal to logical reasoning, however, can make for a compelling and conceptive persuasion, inspiring the subject with a great sense of value and