Scientism and Values.pdf - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Concealed Rhetoric in Scientistic Sociology 95
tion of the human mind in favor of a different "symbolic equipment."
That he is entirely willing to utilize traditional rhetoric
in making his point may be seen from the following passage:
Untold nervous energy, time, and natural resources are wasted in
warfare upon or protection against entirely imaginary monsters conjured
up by words. Widespread mental disorders result from constantly
finding the world different from the word-maps upon which we rely
for guidance and adjustment. Social problems cannot be solved as long
as they are stated in terms as primitive and unrealistic as those which
attributed disease to demons and witches. lO
A feature of another kind indicating that a good many sociologists
are engaged in more or less concealed deliberative oratory
is the presence in their work of a large amount of enthymematic
reasoning. Reasoning in this form is a rhetorical kind of convincing,
and the enthymeme is actually described by Aristotle as, the
"rhetorical syllogism." 11 In the textbooks of logic it is defined as
a syllogism with one of the propositions withheld. In the argument
All who are patriots should be willing to sacrifice for their country.
You should be willing to sacrifice for your country.
the minor premise, "You are a patriot," is missing. It has been
omitted because the maker of the argument has assumed that it is
granted by the hearer and will be supplied by him to complete
the argument.
This type of argument is rightly described as rhetorical because
the rhetorician always gets his leverage by starting with things
that are accepted. By combining these with things he wants to
get accepted ("identification" again) he moves on to the conclusion
which is his object. In other words, because the rhetorician can
assume certain things-because he does not have to demonstrate
every proposition in his argument-he can work from statements
which are essentially appeals. He studies beforehand the disposition
of his auditors and takes note of those beliefs which will
afford him firm ground-those general convictions about which