Modernists vs. Existentialists

I have taken a logic class before and learned that the only arguments we can be sure of are ones based on mathematics, definition and various types of syllogisms. Assuming that each premises of an arguments is true means the conclusion must be true. Inductive arguments, on the other hand, are about debatable topics, which an absolute truth cannot be found. A few examples of inductive reasoning would be our opinions, how we explain things (this happens because of this), or illustrations of what we are describing by various methods.

For me the modernists fall into the deductive reasoning category sticking to strict logic to think about the world. It’s hard to argue against Kant’s categorical imperative that each must “act according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that is should become a universal law” (Smith 273). That idea would be great if there weren’t people who exist that are crazy and fully believe that marrying their pet horse is just fine. I would say that is where the inductive reasoning comes in. Some may live a good life and they might see that life fit for others but that doesn’t make it right. Those using rhetoric must deal with topics that not always logical but specific and cannot be defined. As Smith puts it in our textbook Rhetoric & Human Consciousness, “Reality evades definitive and adequate explanation; however, such uncertainty gives one freedom of choice” (Smith 269).

I like how the chapter starts with the modernists to show what ideas the existentialists revolted against. It helped facilitate my understanding of the existentialists and there thoughts on rhetoric. For them “language is the stuff of an ultimate art that is better able than any other to help us reach a sense of spirit through creativity and to hear the call of conscience through its making-known function” (Smith 290). I can see how rhetoric should be absolute and logical but that only applies to a short spectrum of ideas. It is healthy to have topics open for debate so they we are always improving on them and getting better.



Bibliography

Smith, Craig R. Rhetoric & Human Consciousness. 2nd ed. Waveland Press, Inc: Illinois. Pg. 269-290.