So our prompt was "the greeks believed that to be an orator, an individual had to be morally good." Now traditionally someone who is considered an orator is more than just a person talking; it is a person who is known for their speeches because they inspire and persuade with examples like MLK jr., Thomas Paine or (I hate to say it) Adolf Hitler.
This last example brings me to my point of a person definitely does not have to be morally good to be an orator however, I believe it is a lot easier to be a successful (meaning your speeches inspire and persuade) orator if the person and their ideas are seen as morally good.
As far as the connection between truth and public speaking, especially in the present where information is so readily available, I believe the absence of truth can cause an orator to lose a lot of their credibility, a quality that I believe is essential if one wants to be inspiring and persuasive.
This makes me draw the conclusion that the inclusion of truth (including half-truths) is more crucial to an orator than to be morally good.
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I enjoyed reading your post. It is interesting that you used Martin Luther King and Hitler as examples of speakers with good morals and speakers with bad morals. I also thought of both of them, and posted them as examples. I enjoyed that it is easier for speakers to be successful if they are morally good. I believe this too, this ties into Ethos, it is hard to believe what someone if saying and trust their opinions if you don't believe that they are morally good. And as you said when speakers lie or are caught in an unfavorable situation it is easy for them to lose their credibility and their ability to persuade people..
ReplyDeleteCommeleon, I also enjoyed reading your post. I think that it is interesting that you chose Hitler as an example. Hitler gave the German people a purpose after their country was in shambles, that ability to persuade them into following something so horrendous, show his keen ability to persuade. People often try to convince others that the words they speak are truths, even if they are just half truths or lies. If a person is able to convince a group of people of a lie, they are still considered crediable until that lie is exposed.
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