cONNECTIONS TO Readings
Plato
One can easily see a connection between John Locke's unfavorable view of rhetoric and Plato's own warnings against it. When he was younger, before he turned to medicine and science, Locke studied the classics and philosophy. He was likely influenced by Plato's own distaste when it came to the overuse of rhetoric in deception. However Plato did not share Locke's theories on the construction of knowledge, believe that the human spirit pre-exists birth, carrying a form of knowledge, and thus could only be influenced by rhetoric rather than constructed by it. Aristotle Like Aristotle, Locke considered all people to be created without a sense of morality or a conception of epistemology. This idea was originally postulated by Aristotle and later fully developed by Locke who termed the idea "Tabula Rasa", which is Latin for blank slate, the term meant to describe the natural human condition. Both considered rhetoric as a method for constructing an epistemology or writing on the slate. Both however were of the opinion that rhetoric was inferior to philosophy in this task. |
Cicero
Cicero's idea of Natural Law, that human nature included reason, which could be used to discover justice, is echoed throughout Locke's works and many other enlightenment thinkers. Locke, like Cicero looks at rhetoric as a practical matter. Cicero considered rhetoric as first and foremost a tool for the influencing of the opinions of others. Locke was of a similar opinion, though he was more concerned with the ethical considerations of using rhetoric irresponsibly to influence people towards inappropriate beliefs or actions. St. Augustine St. Augustine saw rhetoric as tool for the dispensation of divine wisdom which he considered to be based in Christianity. John Locke was a devoted Calvinist and rooted many of his ideas in Christian doctrine, particularly as they related to natural rights as is examined in the article following this entry. Locke and Augustine viewed rhetoric as only capable of being used responsibly when it was used to deliver truth. http://www.theglobalist.com/america-and-europe-john-locke-vs-saint-augustine/ |