Importance Of Humanity In John Horgan's And David Wallace's Articles

Humanity has a great meaning in the concept of the human mind. It is very important to understand why humanities is actually beneficial to our lives. The authors John Horgan and David Wallace shares an article with the same topic, which is why humanities is important. The article, “Why Study Humanities? What I Tell Engineering Freshmen” from John Horgan develops an effective argument with the use of rhetorical strategies; ethos, pathos, logos, tones and logical fallacies. On the other hand, David Foster Wallace article, “This is Water” while he catches the audience with a very interesting and unique way of arguing on why he thinks humanities is important, he does not meet the effectiveness of using the rhetorical strategies; ethos, pathos, logos, tones and logical fallacies. Wallace rhetorical strategies were weak to support his evidence and arguments.

Horgan started in his article using ethos with, “I became a science writer because I think science is the most exciting, dynamic, consequential part of human culture, and I wanted to be a part of that.” to let his students know more about his professor and trust him on where his arguments comes from. Horgan also mentions the New York Times to have said, “The report is intended to counter plunging enrollment in and support for the humanities, which are increasingly viewed as ‘luxuries that employment-minded students can ill afford.’ This helps the author to gain more credibility toward his argument and himself. Horgan made an effective use of ethos to attract the audience in noticing his credibility.

In the article “This is Water” by Wallace, he failed on using ethos to support his credibility of the argument, he mentions “If at this moment, you’re worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise old fish explaining what water is to you younger fish, please don’t be. I am not the wise old fish”(1). With this, Wallace gives a statement that he does not feel the need to be someone with credibility.

Horgan’s article used pathos to connect with his students. One of the effective use of this rhetorical strategies was by asking a question, Horgan asked, “ ‘How many of you would skip this class if it wasn’t required?’ After I assure them that they won’t hurt my feelings, almost all raise their hands”(2). This was to create a trust connection based on honest feelings and how they feel about their classes and how they feel about taking humanities with him.

Meanwhile, Wallace’s article could connect with his audience throughout the used pathos, it was not effective enough. He redacted an everyday routine with specific details and right feelings to which most of the adults can understand and relate to. He mentions a lot of emotions throughout the routine of the day that can make the readers feel identified.

Horgan to make his article more credible he used logos by stating, “Scientific studies from the early modern period down to the early twentieth century, anyway, were liberal studies.” This is to make his statements more accurate. After that, at the end of his article he answers to one of his students, “But science is becoming increasingly dogmatic and arrogant in our era, which is why we need the humanities to foster a healthy anti-dogmatism.’ with this he gives a good and effective use of logos.

Wallace’s article “This is Water” lacks on the rhetorical strategy logos, he does not mention any studies or statistics, this can affect his credibility towards the audience because to be a credible writer one should support their arguments based on studies and on what is true. Without the effective use of logos, the author fails on convincing his audience about what he is arguing about.

One of the rhetorical strategy an author could use to make his article effective is the tone. Horgan made himself sound professional, which gives him a credible presentation. He shared in his article, “I find this a bit grandiose, and obscure. I have my own humble defense of the humanities, which I came up with a couple of years ago, when I started teaching a new course required for all freshmen at Stevens Institute of Technology”(1). The way Horgan chooses his words and tones to express himself gives him an effective use of rhetorical strategies.

Wallace gives a very informal article, which gives him a presentation of someone who does not care or try enough to get recognition, he is just speaking his mind about why humanity is important. Wallace states, “Again, please don’t think that I’m giving you moral advice, or that I’m saying you’re “supposed to” think this way, or that anyone expects you to just automatically do it, because it’s hard, it takes will and mental effort, and if you’re like me, some days you won’t be able to do it, or you just flatout won’t want to”(6).

Horgan article committed a logical fallacy which is the red herring, Horgan mentions many times about how science is great “We live in a world increasingly dominated by science. And that’s fine. I became a science writer because I think science is the most exciting, dynamic, consequential part of human culture, and I wanted to be a part of that,”(2). Horgan deviated the main theme which is to argue why humanities is important, but in this case he also supported how science is great.

A logical fallacy was found in Wallace article, he managed to start with explaining on how an adult life becomes a routine for everyone, then he keeps on adding relatables events and connecting causes and effects to every decision and that leads to slippery slope. The slippery slope starts with “Let’s say it’s an average day, and you get up in the morning, go to your challenging job, and you work hard for nine or ten hours, and at the end of the day you’re tired, and you’re stressed out, and all you want is to go home and have a good supper and maybe unwind for a couple of hours and then hit the rack early because you have to get up the next day and do it all again”(3).

In conclusion, Horgan had an effective argument with the use of ethos, logos, pathos, tones and logical fallacies, he supports all his evidence with credible arguments, he managed to create a well developed argument on why humanities is important in our lives. Horgan even showed professionalism while arguing and persuading the audience about why humanities is important. On the other hand, Wallace had a weak way of persuading his audience. The lack of of the rhetorical strategies logos was a poor decision since this appeal could give him more credibility about his arguments. The other rhetorical strategies which are ethos, pathos and tones, Wallace did not make an effective use of them in his article, which lead his argument to not be as much effective as Horgan’s article, even if Wallace’s ideas and ways of seeing how humanities works were interesting, he did not meet the right effectiveness to convince the audience.