As good as the Greeks may believe that to a be an orator, you had to be morally good, I do not agree with this. The name that comes to mind who would be an example of someone who was a good public speaker but not morally right, was Adolf Hitler. During his reign in Germany, he convinced many German people through the power of his words and fist to discriminate against a certain percentage of the population. Even today when you hear him speak, you can feel the passion in his words and he means every bit of what he says. Sometimes you may not have to know exactly what he is saying to begin getting the idea that his public speaking skills are powerful.
The Greeks believed, especially the great rhetoricians like Aristotle and Cicero, that rhetoric is not to win arguments but to discover truths. According to this theory and philosophy, there would be a link between goodness, truth, and public communication. Out of "goodness" the "truth" would be uncovered and to show what is true, effective "public communication" would be needed. Yet, this is not always the case. Someone who is not morally good, like Hitler, can alter truths. With being a good public speaker, he then manipulate his words to make a lie sound truthful, thus breaking the link of goodness, truth and public speaking.
Friday, February 6, 2009
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