Plato’s Gorgias, entails a discussion about the difference between false knowledge and true knowledge. This is a movement from a concept of truth that is understood as Alethéia to the conception of truth that is roman in nature as Veritas[i]. Aletheia is understood as unconcealment of being by the greeks. Aletheia is to just see and recognize something or someone in that moment for how they are. Most importantly Aletheia tries not to establish relation to anything else, such as thinking about someone or something[ii]. This form of truth is much different from Veritas, as it means a way of understanding the world as something that can and should be subject to human rationality[iii]. This rationality is dictated by understanding the world in dualism[iv]. This dualism is proven in Gorgias with the discussion and assertion that there is only two kinds of knowledge, true knowledge and false knowledge.
Current Research including William Spanos’s Americas Shadow, look to see how the understanding of the world through terms of Veritas instead of Aletheia is problematic and at the root of what he calls Pax Metaphysica[v]. Pax Metaphysica is according to Spanos at the root of genocides, isms, and war.
Other research includes McPhails inquiry into the study of rhetoric and how dualistic thought and speech inevitably divides and is at the root of racism[vi].
Michelle Ballif makes arguments that rhetoric that is embracing this concept of Veritas will inevitable commit insidious violence because of the relationships it demands when encountering the other.
[i] Mader, Rodney. "'New world' or 'American' empire?." College Literature 29.4 (Fall 2002): 137(7). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Kansas State University Libraries. 4 Apr. 2008
[ii] Michael Inwoord - A Heidegger dictionary - Oxford, Blackwell Publishers, 1999, pp. 13-14
[iii] Mader, Rodney. "'New world' or 'American' empire?." College Literature 29.4 (Fall 2002): 137(7). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Kansas State University Libraries. 4 Apr. 2008
[iv] ibid
[v] ibid
[vi] Mark Lawrence McPhail, Associate Professor of Communication in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah. Zen in the Art of RHETORIC; An Inquiry into Coherence. 1996
1 comment:
Dan,
I find your discussion about Aletheia and Veritas very interesting. I'd be interested to hear more about the transition between the two concepts and why teachings on the Greek classics (such as this course) have not caused us to value the Greek concept. What really interests me is the claim that Veritas has facilitated violence. WHy is the Roman concept tied so much to dualism? And why does subjecting our understanding of the world to human rationality justify violence? It seems to me that subjecting anything to human rationality may be the way to prevent violence; after all, recognizing that something is in our own image or interest seems to be the way that we understand and protect things like the environment. I understand this concept of knowledge is partial, but why does it have to be so violent? Non-dualistic thinking seems equally prone to violence; if we don't recognize that there are actually differences in the world, how do we make up for material inequalities? I agree some form of modern thinking has helped those who wish to do violence, but I'm unsure if it caused that form of thinking.
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