Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)once wrote, "It is better to live uncomfortably with the truth than contentedly with lies." Joseph Pieper would agree except, Joseph Pieper would argue that living with truth and honesty can make men live comfortably. Jospeh Pieper's small book titled ABUSE OF LANGUAGE:ABUSE OF POWER is a serious book which makes this very clear to readers.Pieper begins this book with a serious treatment of Plato's (427-347 BC)serious dispute with the Ancient Athenian sophists who taught men to use clever words and communication to deceive men with total disregard for truth. Plato argued that the sophists were very dangerous men because of their intellectual prowess and supposed sophistication. The unleaned could be easily misled and become dangerous because of the respect given to the sophists which they did not deserve. Readers may ask what is the relevance of the dispute between Plato and the sophists to modern Western "Civilization." One answer may be studied in the Bolshevik (Communist)Revolution in Russia in 1917. Those who engineered this revolution were members of a declasse intelligensia who knew the use and abuse of language.Pieper then makes a solid point that any communication (language) between an honest man and a liar is useless since the liar has nothing to offer leading to knowledge. Pieper states in effect that the honest man may just as well be talling to thin air, or hot air. The liar is trying to manipulate and gain power over the honest man which is destructive to the honest man if he unaware.Pieper has an interesting explanation of the destruciveness of flattery. The flatterer is trying to intellectually disarm those whom he flatters to gain advantage. A knowledgeable man who is honest is immune to such flattery. However, flattery can be used to undermine the victim to the advantage dishonest person. A good example is in the Book of Genesis whereby the snake successfully flatters Eve to her destruction as well that of Adam.Pieper uses Plato's DIALOGUES using Socrates' statements regarding an honest search for truth which could lead to bona fide knowledge, better thinking, wisdom, and ultimately Divine Wisdom which Plato thought should be the ultimate goal of civlized men. The religous implications of the concept of Divine wisdom are obvous. Sophistry (the sophists)has no regard for knowledge or Divine Wisdom and is only concerned with material advantage and corruption of language. This in turn means corrpution of thought and has nothing to with actual learning.Pieper is not complaining about ignorance. This reviewer defines ignorance as not knowing. An honest ignorant man can learn from an honest learned man which benefits the former. A good example is the communication between student and teacher. Plato's DIALOGUES uses such example to let readers know that those who are not learned can indeed learn.Pieper shows scorn for advertising and media. He comments that advertising appeals to the lowest human instincts in an attempt to promote materialism to the point of lack of respect of others and lack of self respect. Pieper argues that advertising and media appeal to sexual exploitation, disregard for any civilized values, uncontrolled violence, etc. The point has been reached in Western "Civilization" that the masses are taught to take sadistic pleasure at the tragic misfortunes of others.With the emergence of mass media and advertising, tyrants and despots have enhanced their power. Tyrants are alert to the effectiveness of propaganda and advert6ising in deceiving the masses. Threats of physical violence are blurred by the abuse of language. Such words as purges, liquidation, etc. are substituted for actual concentration camp brutality and mass murder. The masses are complicit in such evil by their indifference and "a ruthless desire to conform." Tyrants and despots must have enemies, real or imagined, to promote a materialistic utopia which ignores wisdom and "ultimate values."The second part of the book uses Aristotle's (384-322 BC) and St. Thomas Aquinas'(1225-1274 AD)thinking to futher illustrate authenic learning and honest reason to help men learn wisdom and ultimately "Divine Wisdom." Both men argued that through logic, learning, etc. men could approach God, The Prime Motor, The Unmoved Mover, etc. by serious study and honest truth. What Pieper implies that these men and many in the historical Catholic Church did was to enshrine reason next to Devine Revelation and to learn more of Divine Revelation. Reason and honesty were to be communicated to enhance learning and religious understanding as well as relgious convictions. HOnest communication meant so much to these men.Another example from Ancient History can be gleaned from Thucydides'(c.460 BC-c.400 BC)book THE PELOPONESIAN WAR. Beginning on page 242 (Penguin Edition)Thucydides showed serious concern of how war and revolution corrupted language, honest character,etc. and enhanced corrupt political power. George Orwell's 1984 has disturbing comments on the abuse of language especially beginning on page 17.Pieper's book should require careful reading even for its small size. Pieper's book is clear that those who are concerned with honest communication, truth, honest discourse, etc. are free from petty materialism and apprehensive concern for conformity. On page 54, Pieper cites a quote from Boethius (c. 480-520 AD)who wrote, "The human soul, in essence, enjoys its highest freedom when it remains in the comtemplation of God's mind." Boethius wrote this in his jail cell on the eve of his execution.

The end all/be all be a book by Nathan Wood called, The Secret of the Universe. Read it at any cost, and ignore anything trying to stop ye . . .!!!

Trenchant observations about human nature, politics, and language. Profound yet accessible and succinct. Pieper at his best.

Pieper offers a brilliant summary of the importance of language, and cultivating the understanding that at its core language is meant to convey truth. He reaches back to the time of Plato and Socrates and their struggles with the Sophists, analyzing the role of language in honest and meaningful communication aimed at uncovering the truth, to show the relevance of their struggle even in this day and age.Pieper argues that the abuse of language invariably leads to abuse of power, and unless language is used for communication in search of truth, it breaks down as a legitimate means of communication and devolves into a means of control. A concept that Orwell also illuminated in many of his works, most famously in his essay "Politics and the English Language" (see also his concept of newspeak).I very highly recommend Pieper's concise and well written treatise as a first step in reclaiming language from the demagogues and present day sophists, if for no other reason than to make the first necessary steps in restoring language to once more become the trusted means of communication it was intended to be.

One of my favorite things about Pieper is his ability to make a point succinctly. In less than a hundred pages Pieper demonstrates that to abuse language is to abuse power and further to put civilization itself at risk.Pieper inspired of me a new hatred of our cynical modern forms of advertising, as well as the posturing of social media. "You will know truth, and the truth will set you free."

We drive down the freeway of life and are bombarded with little slogans and attempts to convince and smartly convert us to a way of thinking with marketing bill boards, or through the mail, on TV, in the paper - subtle attempts to steal our minds by over-loading them with a coorporate marketing agenda and sloganism. A bit abusive language on my part.The question is worth pondering, and the questions raised in this book are of the sort that any educated man should ponder, even if there is no solution, it makes great "smartening-up" not "dumbing down" (sloganism) of the curriculum. Peiper persuasively argues that communication is not happening as much as might be thought, because communication must be void of ulterior motives. And his arguement that we must be able to express our view of the "truth of things" in freedom; why many do not is due to what he calls "the lingo of the revolution".

The abuse of language in the lame-stream media is so obvious today, you'd wonder why our society hasn't caught on. Our schools have become nothing but propaganda mills, teaching kids that good citizens just take what ever is told to them is fine, you don't have to think for yourself, just do what we tell you.This book is an excellent review for people who think for themselves, but need a well documented reinforcement or refresher course.Recommend to everyone who cares about America.

I found this slim volume to be a superb analysis of what happens to language when the grasp of truth itself is lost. Pieper is his usual clear and thorough self. Want to understand why we don't talk about "true" and "false" any more, but rather "narratives" and "alternative facts"? Read this book.

Pieper offers the same claim made 2400 years ago by Plato/Socrates against the Sophists, namely that they fabricated a fictitious reality. He quotes the three statements made then re. the " value and meaning of human existence". These are: 1) To perceive ...all things as they really are ...and live accordingly", 2) that "All men are sustained....by the truth" and 3) that "Truth lives in...dialogue, discussion and conversation". The book's title is taken from Pieper's conclusion that well-ordered human existence is essentially based on the well-ordered language employed. He asserts that the word "academic" meant that there exists a "sheltered space for the autonomous study of reality [for then] it is possible ....to examine, investigate, discuss, what is true about anything". It is this pursuit which is needed to-day and this book cogently presents an argument for it.

Difficult to get copies of this author's works but, fortunate to find this. Good value.

This book is one of a handful which I would argue are obligatory reading. In this short book (only 54 pages) Josef Pieper, a German Thomist philosopher, answers the question of why Plato was so implacably opposed to the Sophists in antiquity with a perceptive and thought-provoking analysis of the centrality of language to all human intercourse and culture and how sophistic corruption of language leads to the dehumanising and manipulation of other persons. Pieper alludes to the contemporary significance of this sophistic abuse of language and abuse of power, without explicitly spelling it out, thus allowing readers to make their own connections between sophistry and the contemporary political and social dissimulation and delusion in the West. I think that Pieper's analysis is partly informed by his own experience of witnessing the Nazi rise to power in Germany, as well as by his reading of Plato and St. Thomas Aquinas. This book can be read in a couple of hours, but every new re-reading will add to one's understanding of just how true and relevant Pieper's insights into the corrupting dangers of sophistry are. One can only wish that all politicians and journalists would read and inwardly digest the arguments presented in this booklet; it would surely benefit them.

Great Book. Only drawback was that the binding was mixed up. The print on demand worked but the cover was put on upside down. I did not return the book because it was not that big of deal. However, it is amusing as reading it in public tended to confuse people as to why or how I was able to read a book upside down. :)Other than that minor issue, the delivery, the quality, the price, and the product were excellent. I would use the supplier again and I would recommend the book.If you are worried about "fake news" and how rhetoric in politics shapes our world, then I do recommend this book.

Well argued