Philosophy topic - Persuation paper - Essay Example

The morning news told a shocking story of arch-villain I Doc, a master of evil, working steadily on a new invention known as the I Slave. The news anchor reported the grim news: “I Slave will be sent to enslave all of the people in our tri-state region.” Hearing this, our hero Doct Man could not believe his ears. Doct Man quickly rose from his morning breakfast table and rushed into action. He was determined to prevent any harm from coming to the people, and he was fearless in his goal. No danger would cause him to turn away from his path.

He rushed to meet I Doc and reason with him, heart to heart, with the argument that, “evil is to be abandoned and slavery holds no purpose or value compared to the good that can be shared in life.” As Doct Man was riding his bike to I Doc’s lair, the evil villain suddenly appeared in his Doc-mobile and swept him off the road, kidnapping him. When Doct Man awoke, he found himself in the I Doc lair with the villain’s own henchmen guarding his prison door.Suddenly, Doct Man heard the door open and the guards appeared, ordering him to march to dinner to be the guest of I Doc.

As all in the tri-state region knew of the reasoning and persuasive power of Doct Man, it seemed that I Doc had also heard of his reputation as a philosopher and wanted to see if he could be convinced under threat of torture to join the mayhem as part of his team. Doct Man, however, was certain of his ability to persuade I Doc to the opposite view. As he sat in his chair at the dinner table, I Doc welcomed Doct Man and apologized for the abduction. He explained his plan to conquer and subjugate the tri-state through the I Slave technology.

Doct Man replied that, “I fear not any man, nor any thing in this earth, for I cannot be harmed by evil.” Surprised, I Doc asked him how this is possible. Doct Man replied by saying, “I am not identified with this body, and this body is not I. As the universe is eternal, a cycle of cycles, so too am I an eternal being, and will survive whatever evil you can muster without wavering in the slightest. My power comes from my Soul, eternal and wise, and this world is but a moment, a blink of the eye, in the context of my Being.

You will exhaust yourself within days in your evil plan. The people will rise. Reinforcements will come from abroad. No matter how much you may wish to repress them with your technology, the will of the people is strong. There are billions ready to assist in the war of resistance to I Slave. But I alone come here in peace and tell you clearly – Abandon your evil ways! They will serve you no good. As you sow, so shall you reap the rewards of violence. We are friends and brothers. There is no harm in going astray if you repent by returning to valid knowledge.

Just give me a chance, and I will show you the nature of your own mind, and through that process, the wisdom of my teaching. There is a power in truth much greater than any evil.”At this, I Doc was slightly startled, as he knew there was some truth in what he said of the possibility of reinforcements coming to rescue their friends and families in the tri-state area. Nevertheless, he was convinced of the power of the of the I Slave to conquer and control. Suddenly, he lost control and flew into a rage.

“I will kill you,” he seethed. “I will string you up and tear you to quarters on the rack! Here we have a torture chamber with the best ‘torture science’ experts. You will survive much longer than you can ever imagine, but the agony will be excruciating!” I Doc slammed his fist to the table, but Doct Man sat unruffled, and unperturbed. He sipped his wine, and combed back the hair on his bangs. “I fear not your pain, nor the tortures you can inflict. My mind is beyond the material world and is not conditioned by pain.

”“But you have not met my torturers,” I Doc replied. “They have a truth serum like your philosophy, no more and no less effective. Does your philosophy know how to amplify pain through sensitivity? Does your philosophy know the defense against a long razor to the throat? Will your head speak as it rests on the top of this pike, here as we toast your memory at the table after you are gone? Long live the merry professor who will live forever, his mind cannot be found!” With this, I Doc burst into laughter and nearly fell out of his chair.

When he returned to calmness, the Doct Man replied:“No evil man can hurt a good man. A good man has his heart and his mind centered in the Soul and the eternal. The soul is intangible, it is not like this table that you pound upon, nor is it identical with my body which you may torture. But my Soul is identical with Truth. Try as you might, you cannot change that. The Soul is eternal, without beginning or end, and thus it will always be. As a human I feel the pain you can inflict on me through torture far less than the pain you must feel by needing to inflict it.

For your Soul is suffering in ignorance and blindness. You cannot see the truth. Imagine a man who had lived his life in entirety so blinded by his own ego, suffering, and madness that he never once glimpsed his own Soul, never once felt love. The tragedy is a grief to me far greater than your torture. As it stands, I am here for one reason – I mourn for you in your loss of humanity to evil.”At this statement, I Doc pulled back and stiffened, obviously somewhat hurt and self-reflective. Briefly, doubt ran across his brow.

Suddenly, he hurled the chair back and leapt out of his seat, shouting, “Curse you Doct Man! I will not have your insults at my dinner table, as my guest! I will have you tortured and cut to pieces, then scattered over the tri-state area as I Slave rules the world!” At this time, he began to cough, choking a bit on some food he had been eating.Doct Man replied softly, “Are you ready to meet death today, to go into the afterlife, only your Soul as Being, with this body left behind? If you choke and die here at this table, is your life of evil the legacy you wish to leave?

Worse yet, will they not follow and haunt you, the ghosts of your victims? If you know not your Soul, you know not valid action, nor valid knowledge, nor valid awareness. If you could find it, Truth is in your Soul. It would be like a blinding light in a cave of darkness.”At that moment doubt truly entered I Doc’s being, and he wondered, “Have I really lost sight of and never seen my own Soul? Am I a madman or a monster? What is this I seek, the slavery of tri-state if I have, as this great man states, lost my eternal nature?

”I Doc changed, turning completely white and suddenly becoming very calm. “I knew you had something to teach me good doctor, and I wondered what it was. Now that I see your point, I must ask you… tell me more.”With that I Doc and Doct Man became friends, as strange as it may seem. They were to spend long hours discussing these issues together. The I Slave became a butler, serving them wine and cheese. The tri-state area honored Doct Man by building a library to commemorate the event. In summary, the rhetorical and philosophical arguments of Doct Man converted I Doc successfully and people still tell the story to this day.

Rhetorical and philosophical arguments are the best arguments to use to convert people from wrong views. For example, in comparison to rhetorical and philosophical arguments, mathematical and religious arguments would have had little to no effect in I Doc’s decision to change his mind. This story illustrates the power of mind, logic, and the soul over evil, violence, and mad technology, showing the power of wisdom to convert ignorance into understanding. It is from the example of Doct Man and his library that we still study philosophy today.

Source:Balaguer, Mark (2009). Platonism in Metaphysics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Last accessed Dec 13th, 2010. Retrieved from