A Rhetoric of Motives: Traditional Principles of Rhetoric Part 6

Hello, fellow scholars and lovers of rhetoric! 📚🎙️

I’m Dr. Bobby, “The Best Assistant Professor Who Never Was,” and today we’re diving deeper into Kenneth Burke’s A Rhetoric of Motives. This episode explores Burke’s concept of disassociation—a strategy for breaking associations in order to uncover deeper motives behind actions.

We’ll also discuss: ✔️ The scholar’s quest to identify and address gaps in knowledge ✔️ Burke’s take on fact vs. abstraction in rhetorical commonplaces ✔️ How nominalism and realism shape our understanding of truth ✔️ The purity spectrum of motives and its implications in rhetoric ✔️ A villainous case study featuring Lex Luthor and the ethics of means vs. ends

From Burke’s reinterpretation of Plato’s Theory of Forms to the rhetorical strategies of Superman’s nemesis, this episode connects classic rhetorical theory with pop culture in a way that makes theory come alive! 🦸‍♂️💥

🔔 Subscribe for more deep dives into rhetoric, philosophy, and media studies! 👍 Like & Share if you enjoyed today’s discussion! 💬 Comment below: What are your thoughts on Burke’s take on disassociation? Do villains fail because they overlook the impurity in their motives? Let’s discuss!

Thanks for watching, and remember—I’m Dr. Bobby, “The Best Assistant Professor Who Never Was.” See you next time! 🎤✨

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