The Three Canons of Invention and the Near-death Experience Essay

Invention is the division of rhetoric that rhetors use to find arguments. The three approaches to invention are kairos, stasis theory, and the topic method. I am going to apply them here to support my belief in the near-death experience. When speaking to an audience, I must use kairos. I have to take into consideration what information is relevant to my audience. From there I can develop a persuasive argument on the near-death experience. Here I will give some examples of the points I need to make when arguing from a kairotic stance. First, I have to realize there will be some skeptics in the audience. I will address them by assuring that there is no pattern in who has near-death experiences. People from different backgrounds have had them, no matter their culture or belief system, religion, race or education. These people have not necessarily lived a "good" or "bad" life according to their society's standards. This information should convince the audience that anyone is vulnerable to a near-death experience. Another way I can persuade the audience is by sharing true accounts from people who have experienced near-death experiences. An even better approach would be to bring in some of these people. The information may be more believable coming straight from the ones who had these experiences. Stasis theory consists of a set of questions that will help me, as the rhetor, understand where differences lie between my audience and myself. Conjecture is the first stasis. The near-death experience does exist. It was introduced in The Bible. Saint Paul claimed that he was taken from his broken body up to Heaven. He later returned to his repaired body. These two aspects are practical, while th... ...es the greater and lesser impacts of near-death experiences. Leaving the body for an impossible period of time (more than a day) is greater than the norm. Seeing a flash of light, or something else occurring while in the body is lesser than the norm. The final step of this method includes the possible and the impossible. Near-death experiences may prove the possibility of life after death. It is impossible to choose to have a near-death experience. In the future it will be possible to know what causes near-death experiences. The three canons of invention and the way in which I applied the near-death experience to them should have persuaded my audience to believe me. One commonplace that relates to this issue is, "I almost died and went to Heaven." This slogan goes to say that people have believed in the near-death experience for quite some time.

Reason vs Passion Essay

The view that reason is the superior principle and it causes an action is a fallacy. Having said this, Reason alone can never cause action. What really causes an action is a Passion to act according to what you desire to do. Reason however can be a passion’s or desire’s guide to discover the connection of the causes and effects. Reasoning as is what takes place in our mind and works in terms of experience or as a copy of a late event isn’t really what can cause an action. But since passion or desire takes place in a real world surely is the one that causes action. Reason guides the impulse to act. The fact that reason makes judgements using demonstration which never influence us to act but otherwise guide our action or the causes and effects it is not subjected to cause action. If for example in my reasoning I want to cross the road. In reasoning that I have to crossing the road, reason doesn’t tell me that there are speeding cars in the road and therefore I should wait for them. But for the fact that it is my desire not to get hit by a car I will have to wait until the cars have stopped then I can cross over. Now for the fact that it is my passion or desire not to be hit by a car it states it clear that passion have caused the whole action of crossing the road. My actions have been experimented in the real world according to my desire of crossing the road not only reason about crossing over. Passion is the cause of action. This is because whatever I desire results to the effects that I have expected. If I’m passionate to pass PHIL203 examination, then studying hard is the action that caused by the desire to pass. For I have reasoned in my mind that if I don’t study hard then I will fail, it is therefore my desire not to fail and I should study hard. The reason has been taken into account to direct or guide my action but the actual action has been caused by my desire or passion of not wanting to fail or of wanting to pass. So reason alone can never oppose passion or a desire or it can never prevent the choice of decision (volition) resulted from the will or even to question nor challenge any of my desires or passion. The reason therefore will always be seen to be the assistant or a slave of passion since it is ought to guide or direct our actions and discover the causes and effects while passion is causing the real action. But you got to have a reason to act then a passion can come in to bring the reason into real action. We just have to align with the reason why we have to act, have passion to desire or act at the centre of the reasoning idea, obey and serve our reason. But then again, we shouldn’t be ambushed that reason alone causes action because reason is just an idea in our minds and passion or desire is a real action that is taking place. If for example I have failed PHIL101 examination due to not studying hard then I have an experience of how dangerous it could be not to study. The reason doesn’t force me to study due to the experience I have or a copy of the last event or experience that resulted in not studying hard. This is so because reason is just a copy of an experience and it doesn’t influence me to act. But since reason have discovered the causes and effect and those causes and effects are effecting me I then desire not to be affected by those causes and effect and become passionate or make it my desire to pass the exam then studying is an act of passing for if I desire to pass therefore I should study which states it clear that passion is the cause of an action and a reason as the director. Passion is an original existence which means it is not based on experienced. Passion is not an idea in mind of what has happened before but it is a real event or action that takes place in a real world at any point in time. If for example I’m happy that I have passed PHIL203 examination, that emotion is not a copy or reference of any other object e. g. buying an Apple laptop. There is therefore no way in which a passion can be opposed or be contradictory to the truth or reason unless there are ideas that are not in favour or that are contradictory to the actual or real object they present. This could happen if I for example fear the effects of objects that haven’t or doesn’t exist e.g. fear to fail PHIL203 but not even registered for PHIL203 which means I fear of writing the exam of which I believe that I will write but that I will not write at all maybe again because I didn’t get a DP. In this case the belief is unreasonable not that the passion is. This is because if I have a belief of an effect to be caused by an action of which that effect will no longer take place because there was never a cause of that effect in the first place then belief becomes unreasonable since there was never a cause of any action that would lead to a strongly believed effect. The belief of writing an examination is unreasonable if I’m not registered for the module. If we reason incorrectly about causes and effects then it can lead to our passion being unreasonable again. If there is no false belief or incorrect reasoning about causes and effects then there is no way a passion can be unreasonable. If then I’m registered for PHIL203, got a DP, studying hard, have an experience of what happens if I don’t study hard then there is no way in which passion can be unreasonable therefore it is impossible for passion and reason to oppose each other for the control of will and action. If Stefan denies me a DP then my desire or a belief of writing an exam stops then I shouldn’t bother studying. This means if the belief is false then I must stop caring about an action I desired to take. There are those desires that don’t produce any strongly felt emotion. These kinds of desires concerned the most with what really happening or going on into our minds. It has been argued that these desires are the same as reason but that is quit not true. For the fact that it takes place in our minds doesn’t mean that it doesn’t cause an action. If it was reason alone it wasn’t going to cause any action but for the fact that it is a desire but a calm one, it is subjected to cause action. I don’t really care if my friends fail PHIL203 examination but it is not my desire to see my friends failing. Now for that calm desire I have in mind will cause an action whereby I form a study group with my friends. But then again in the opposite of calm desires there are those desires which produce a strongly felt emotion. These desires are violent in nature. If I have failed PHIL203 examination knowing exactly that I have studied hard and the paper was easy for me will cause an action of being angry with whoever marked my paper and I might even want to see my examination script. Whatever a situation might be a reason will never influence a cause of action but the Passion and the desires we have are the one that cause action. Reason will be a guide or a slave of passion.

Beowulf Essay Grendel s Mother - 1852 Words

Colin McDaniels Dr. Kim Beowulf Paper – Grendel’s Mother In the poem Beowulf, the most evident theme is the importance of the Germanic heroic code. The heroic code was what made Beowulf so famous and god-like during his renowned life. The code is displayed in the opening lines of the poem and continued to show up throughout the duration of the poem. Heroism is often painted with a protagonist, which causes some acts of heroism to be overlooked when an antagonist follows the heroic code. Throughout the poem, there are many acts of heroism displayed, but many people overlook the way that Grendel’s mother followed the Germanic heroic code. Grendel’s mother follows the Germanic heroic code by showing courage, strength, and honor as Beowulf does throughout the poem, something that is frowned upon in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The bible says, â€Å"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust† (Matthew 5:43-45, English Standard Version). This is the opposite of the way that the Germanic heroic code suggests how to treat an enemy. The heroic code states that one should get revenge through bloodshed, or wergild, while the Christian belief is to give forgiveness to our enemies for their wrongdoings. The Germanic heroicShow MoreRelatedGood vs. Evil in Beowulf1456 Words   |  6 PagesGood vs. Evil in Beowulf Beowulf is longest and greatest early Anglo-Saxon poem which was composed in England sometime in the eighth century AD by a literate scop. This poem was created in the oral poetic tradition. 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