Science and the rhetoric of reality

Abstract

Given that scientific theories are symbolic representations of nature whose reality only comes about if their propounders can persuade enough people to regard them as real, by what means of persuasion have they accomplished the end? This essay examines this question and focuses specifically on some of the basic assumptions and concepts scientists have employed as topoi in developing their theoretical arguments into seemingly canonical explanations of reality. The philosophical/ethical perspective from which this examination is conducted is essentially one of sophistic skepticism. The essay concludes that the hope of understanding scientific knowledge and its rhetorical implications lies in uniting the knower with the known.

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