Much of Richard Weaver's work has focused on the relationship between rhetoric and ethics. Weaver viewed language as sermonic. A noble rhetor will use language to direct our passions to noble ends whereas a base rhetor will direct our passions to confuse, deceive, and degrade us.
Utterances are therefore never neutral.
They are subjectively born, intimate, and value-laden. Through language our intentions are revealed. Since utterances are imbued with our value-system, audiences may infer our ethical perspective by the specific language that we use. Language is Sermonic. Of central importance to Weaver's interpretation of rhetoric is the concept of choice.