Thursday, January 27, 2011
Inception of the Matrix
I never saw Inception, and its been a while since Ive seen the Matrix, but I couldn't help but think of the two movies when discussing Gary Brummett's, Three Meanings of Epistemic Rhetoric and how it begged the question: what is Truth? How do you define, and know that what YOU know is the truth. Before reading this I thought I could answer that question, but instead I sat in class stumped. It took me several attempts just to grasp the first two theories of Methodological and Sociological epistemic rhetoric, often getting tripped up by the use of the term that means "the creation of knowledge". Never before had I considered knowledge to have been created, especially not in terms of three different types of rhetoric.
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I think Brummett and others might say that 1)either Truth doesn't exist as something separate from us and eternal, or 2) if Truth exists we can't know it because of the limitations of our minds. But they also might say that through language we _can_ agree on what is _true_ for us. The language processes we go through to discuss, persuade, and agree on what is true are rhetorical.
ReplyDeleteI too was somewhat lost when discussing the issue of what is truth and knowledge, mostly because I've never considered debating this issue, but after class was over I spent a lot of time thinking about the concept of what is truth and what helped me the most in thinking that truth is just something we argue and persuade others to believe was when we briefly discussed the tree and the forest idea. Dr. Newbold made a great point by stating that sound is simply something we sense, it is not a concrete object, therefore if no one is there to sense when a tree falls than one can argue it doesn't make a sound because sound doesn't exist if not sensed. Just like truth is not a concrete or practical object and it doesn't exist unless discussed and argue by people.
ReplyDeleteDerek makes a great point here. I also wondered about "what is truth" after reading this section. Being true and honest with someone is about telling that other person the exact thing that happened or basically your opinion. But as the receiver of so-called truth, we must have faith in who is telling us. If we do not have faith in the "truth" that is being told then what is truth but a mere false statement. I agree with what Derek says about the tree falling in the forest statement. I have always felt that it does make a sound, and that just because someone isn't there to hear it, doesn't mean that it does not make sound. But I have never thought of it to the point that Derek and Dr. Newbold put it. I'm glad you commented on this Derek. Pretty interesting thought.
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