This week I'd like to focus of the B&H book, as well as RR. The religion and science debate seems rather tired to me, though Booth does offer a somewhat unique take on the issue by highlighting the importance of rhetoric. His fascination and obsession with rhetoric is clear, especially in the conclusion. "Your fate, like mine, depends at least partly on the quality of of your listening to the rhetoric that hits you, and the quality of your responses" (172). There is, however, a psychological component missing from his argument. It is one thing to advocated for and even practice LR, but it is another thing entirely to be successful at it. Human debate, dialogue and rhetoric in general are colored by selfish motives, or at the very least a strong desire to convince and/or persuade. LR is simply too objective to account for the inevitable subjectivity of human relations. It's relatively easy to do LR in a laboratory environment, but in the heat of the moment (when rhetoric really seems to matter), passions ignite arguments, and if LR doesn't fall apart completely, its strength and power still suffer. I would like to see Booth's ideas united with psychology in an attempt to explore whether the ideals of LR are simply out of reach of human beings. Again, if LR is most necessary when "fate" or other highly important matters are at stake, any human would have a difficult time practicing it. I would even argue that tensions and wars result from perceptions that become ingrained, thus making LR almost useless in practice, but appealing in theory.
I am perhaps saying that most if not all human being are incapable of LR, so they should not strive to obtain it at all (lest they be hypocrites), but lucky is he who actually possesses the skill.
"I marvel at men who felicitate those who are eloquent by nature on being blessed with a noble gift, and yet rail at those who wish to become eloquent, on the ground that they desire an immoral and debasing education" (79). This quote from Antidosis is particularly relevant, though I suppose there is no harm in trying to practice effective LR. The state of the world calls for something, anything that will lessen tensions and help bring about communication, understanding and peace. If, however, that hasn't happened yet, can it ever? We can hope.
Bethany