[lbo-talk] What are you reading now?

Eubulides paraconsistent at comcast.net
Fri Sep 14 06:08:23 PDT 2007


Tayssir John Gabbour wrote:
> >From his chapter entitled "Corruption in Evidence Presentations:
> Effects Without Causes, Cherry-Picking, Overreaching, Chartjunk and
> the Rage to Conclude":
>
> "Making a presentation is a moral act as well as an intellectual
> activity. The use of corrupt manipulations and blatant rhetorical
> ploys in a report or presentation -- outright lying, flagwaving,
> personal attacks, setting up phony alternatives, misdirection,
> jargon-mongering, evading key issues, feigning disinterested
> objectivity, willful misunderstanding of other points of view --
> suggests that the presenter lacks both credibility and
> evidence. To maintain standards of quality, relevance, and
> integrity for evidence, consumers of presentations should insist
> that presenters be held intellecutally and ethically responsible
> for what they show and tell. Thus /consuming/ a presentation is
> also an intellectual and moral activity."
>
>
=======================

What does deploying the term morality add to any of what he's asserting? Dealing with the above problems has no more to do with so-called morality than non-marital sex between consenting adults has anything to do with morality. The pejorative casting of rhetorical ploys is itself a rhetorical ploy....
>
> The consumer/producer relationship is clear to me. Unfortunately I
> can't evaluate your claim why it's incoherent, since you haven't
> offered your reasoning to me.
>
=======================

I don't see any argument that it is a consumptive relationship.

What does it mean to say I've consumed 2+2=4? A hammer? A theatrical performance?

One could offer lots more examples of the above......................

Ian



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