Cliff Crego's blog, whitebark—
Notes scratched into a stonepine snag, open to the light, clear air . . .
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10/25/12
CONCLUSIONARY RHETORIC?
Filed under: General
Posted by: @ 6:49 am

We shape the world and the world shapes us.

DEFINED: Conclusionary rhetoric? “Arguing”
BACKWARDS from a fixed, rigid, fundamentalist
agenda

In stark contrast, the essence, or spirit, of Science—
this is much more than mere method, but rather
a wholly different way of being, in this view—
is not so much proof, but rather the willingness
to drop a theory or idea if evidence suggests
that is contradicted by fact.

It is this scientific spirit that underlies both dialogue
and the necessarily enlightened self-governance of
democracy.

[Note: That is why the motto, IN GOD WE TRUST,
always controversial, and not adapted till 1957, is
thoroughly anti-democratic, and mere artifact of the
above-mentioned “fixed, rigid, fundamentalist agenda.”
It is enough of a contradiction to take down an entire
Republic, because, dialogue and reasoned debate
necessarily will degenerate into merely ‘throwing
stones at one another.’]

For textbook examples of Conclusionary Rhetoric, try
watching this new PBS doc, Climate of Doubt
http://to.pbs.org/TeMdTu Conclusionary rhetoric?
“Arguing” BACKWARDS from a fundamentalist agenda
#ClimateChange

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10/13/12
IN REASON WE TRUST
Filed under: General
Posted by: @ 9:32 am

We shape the world and the world shapes us.

Rule of Law without Rule of Reason is like a
school with a strict principal, but without teachers
and books. The self-governance of democracy
demands that we all be students of the
Enlightenment’s key insight, “In reason we trust.”
Otherwise, we shall most certainly become inmates
of a prison of our own making.

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