on the one hand ... on the other hand

I was thinking the other day:

On the one hand, it seems good to be able to see both points of view about everything, as this can enable us to have humility and to listen graciously to what people are really saying. On the other hand, it's perhaps not good to see everything from both points of view, as this can lead us to dither and be unable to make a decision, and can cause us to lose our moral clarity about things which really are black and white.

I think we need both either/or thinking and both/and thinking. Do you agree (or not)?

One of the most influential theological works of the Middle Ages was called Sic et Non (Yes and No) by Peter Abelard, in which he juxtaposed apparently contradictory quotations from the Bible and the Church Fathers on all the major topics of theology.

In the Renaissance, one of the popular rhetorical exercises taught in schools was called argumentem in utramque partem, which means arguing on either side, being able to argue both points of view on any given question. Often pupils would be told which side they were to argue, and perhaps the next day they would be told to argue for the other side. This was deemed to be a useful skill for future lawyers, courtiers and preachers to learn.

On the one hand, this seems like a fun exercise - they debated questions like “Which is better - day or night?”, “Should one seek to live a life of work or a life of leisure?”, “Was Brutus right to kill Caesar?”

On the other hand, there are some unsettling, even sinister, implications in developing this skill - it is said that one celebrated orator in ancient Greece argued passionately on one day that justice was of supreme value, and the next argued just as passionately that injustice was a great idea.

I am reminded of the words of the philosopher Protagoras:
“You can dispute about everything with equally convincing arguments on both sides, even about the problem whether everything is disputable on both sides.”

Some biblical passages for reflection:

The one who states his case first seems right,
until the other comes and examines him.
(Proverbs 18:17)

John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:49-50)

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30, Luke 11:23)

I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:16-20)

In other news:

The Naked Scientists (don't worry, the content of this site is entirely family friendly) have discovered that a chocolate teapot is less useless than previously thought.

The BBC reports that teachers can guess which children will be trouble from their names. For the teachers among my family and friends, this is not news.

‘Yes We Can!’: Rhetoric on TV

Another plug for the contemporary relevance of rhetoric studies:

Until this coming Sunday, you can watch on BBC iplayer the programme
‘Yes We Can! The Lost Art of Oratory’

This programme explores political oratory, starting with Obama but also considering Cicero, Churchill, Thatcher, Hitler and many others. Classical rhetoric gets a look in, including an interview with Charlotte Higgins, the author of the article I linked to earlier.

A Ciceronian President? (Obama and rhetoric)

Jumping on a bandwagon to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of what I study:

Charlotte Higgins, 'The new Cicero'

It's worth reading the whole article. Here are some extracts using the geeky technical vocab which will be found in my thesis:

One of the best known of Cicero's techniques is his use of series of three to emphasise points: the tricolon. (The most enduring example of a Latin tricolon is not Cicero's, but Caesar's "Veni, vidi, vici" - I came, I saw, I conquered.) Obama uses tricola freely. Here's an example: "Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy ..." In this passage, from the 2004 Democratic convention speech, Obama is also using the technique of "praeteritio" - drawing attention to a subject by not discussing it. (He is discounting the height of America's skyscrapers etc, but in so doing reminds us of their importance.)

[...]

Obama's favourite tricks of the trade, it appears, are the related anaphora and epiphora. Anaphora is the repetition of a phrase at the start of a sentence. Again, from November 4: "It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools ... It's the answer spoken by young and old ... It's the answer ..." Epiphora does the same, but at the end of a sentence. From the same speech (yet another tricolon): "She lives to see them stand out and speak up and reach for the ballot. Yes we can." The phrase "Yes we can" completes the next five paragraphs.

[...]

Steel also points out how Obama's oratory conforms to the tripartite ideal laid down by Aristotle, who stated that good rhetoric should consist of pathos, logos and ethos - emotion, argument and character. It is in the projection of ethos that Obama particularly excels.

menus and soundtracks

The menus and soundtracks for my life of late have been varied but satisfying.

I am about to go to the last Grad Hall of this year (i.e. it’s stopping for three weeks until September. Here is the menu (preceded by sherry in the MCR, followed by port, Bailey's and chocolates in Hall):

Starter: Grilled Goat's Cheese and Chutney
Main Course: Rump Steak
Vegetables: Mushrooms, Grilled Tomatoes, and Herb Roasted Potatoes
Dessert: Individual Summer Puddings (a cookie crust with various fruits and sauce);

Yesterday evening I ate some jacket potatoes which had sprouted, along with grated cheese, a heated tin of tomatoes, mango pickle (not the same as mango chutney) and some crème fraiche with a use by date of June 15th.

On Sunday, after church in the morning, I went to the MCR brunch, where we had a much bigger turnout than previously, such that an extra trip to Sainsbury's had to be made to supply enough bagels and salmon. Afterwards I went for a walk with a friend by the river, in the sun, watching the punts collide. This evening I ate my omelette and camembert on toast with mango chutney, listening to Brazilian pop music with the three Brazilian girls in the house. On Friday I went to an underground cavern with three Brazilian girls and two non-Brazilian guys to listen to live West African music.

The biggest recent happening was my sojourn in Strasbourg last week at the conference of the International Society of the History of Rhetoric, where I presented a paper. I nearly put on odd shoes one morning but realised before I left for the conference venue. Feedback was encouraging.

The venue was the Palais Universitaire, a rather splendid 19th century neo-Gothic construction with a large atrium in the middle of the ground floor, surrounded by pillars, giving plenty of space for mingling, fuelled by coffee and cake. I met younger and more established scholars; Jesuits, Baptists and Mormons; Americans, Germans, French, Korean, Japanese; male and female. An eminently civil assortment of humanity.

Strasbourg, as the mayor reminded us in the reception à la Mairie, is a frontier town, having a heritage French and German, north and south European, being nourished and buffeted by the varied currents of political, religious, social and intellectual history which have marked Europe. There we were stuffed with cake before being bussed to a concert in St Thomas Church, which had historic links to Martin Bucer, Albert Schweitzer, and Mozart. The concert, simple but soaring, put Mozart, Bach and Debussy back into their right setting.

The conference, to which I was recruited by Jameela, was wonderful in many ways, including its intellectual stimulation, its warm and friendly atmosphere and the amiable company I found myself in in the evenings (generally outside the restaurants around the cathedral and by the river).


Some other memories of Strasbourg:

Eating at a restaurant in the open air with the illuminated cathedral front in front of us and jolly oompah music being played behind us, being served by the jolly restauranteur.

Eating French icecream in the rain with a Japanese friend across the road from the European Parliament, having walked along the as yet unfinished tramlines ("let the reader understand").

At the end of the conference, we had a banquet at the Maison Kammerzell, a big medieval house turned into a restaurant which can house 360 people. The menu was:

Chiffonnade de Saumon mariné à l'Aneth,
Poireaux «Adeline»
~
Magret de Canard rôti aux Champignons des Bois,
Flan de Légumes
~
Kouglof glacé au Grand-Marnier sur
Coulis d'Eglantines

"Practise maketh all thynges perfect" (Thomas Wilson)

What maketh the lawyer to have suche utteraunce? Practise. What maketh the Preacher to speake so roundly? Practise. Yea, what maketh women go so fast awaie with their wordes? Marie practise I warraunt you.

(Thomas Wilson, The Arte of Rhetorique (1553/1560))