In the tradition of inkshedding, as we read the writings of others we wrote reactions, underlined interesting passages, and otherwise commented on the pages we read. My comment that Good people writing for good causes leads to ethical development is the focus of my talk today. My aim, then, is the education of the perfect orator. The Weak defense posits that good rhetoric is used by our side and bad rhetoric is used by our opponents. Rhetoric in this conception is based on Ramus radical separation of morality from rhetorical skill, and rhetorical skill from invention.
Rhetoric here is akin to a plug n play component for a computer.
Anyone can use it if they only take the trouble to learn the rules. This is sometimes called foundational because this argument relies on a foundation of moral value that is accepted by an audience as universal. It is weak because it doesn t move an argument along very far beyond simple name-calling and does not engage the other or contradictory moral codes. Rhetorical skill goes beyond grammar and mechanics to consider audience, evidence, occasion, purpose. Such action-oriented teaching is the subject of The Ethics of Writing Instruction, a collection of essays edited by Michael Pemberton.