The feeling I get when I read about Nyaya is one of sharing, compatibility, and caring.  I feel that the rhetorical form of Nyaya is concerned with finding common ground in regards to the truth between two parties as opposed to finding a way to persuade the other party to their side.  I love the quote, “Nyaya seeks commonalities.”  It is so simple yet says so much about what type of rhetorical method was valued in India in those times.  I do not think, however, that by “seeking commonalities” this means that the person wasn’t trying to come to a certain end in their speech, but rather that the method of arriving at that end was somehow more just.  More truthful and lacking in superfluous persuasion.

There is a quote by Oliver in this reading which refers to the “common search by speaker and hearer for enlightenment through penetration of unified truth which encompasses them both and all else besides.”  This seems like such a more worldly view of rhetoric than what we think of as rhetoric in our Western culture.  It seems to be at one with the world and with the human race and sees the search for truth as something that will not so much gain for the individual, but for all of humankind.

In our first reading for this week, there were many comparisons of the same kind referring to sound and a pot.  I got tired of reading about them because it seemed to confuse me to no end, but I’m starting to complain.  Later, the reading got quite good and made a lot more sense to me. Enough of that… I did get one great quote out of that reading that I completely agree with.  It said, “An example is a thing the characters of which are well-known to an ordinary man as well as to an expert.”  I just read something like this in my Wednesday night class while studying Total Physical Response where Dr. Asher talks about the benefits of metaphor.  He said basically the same thing and that if we can make metaphors, or examples, easy to understand while also being funny or witty or smart, then our argument (or teaching method) will benefit greatly.  I must say that toward the end of this reading there were many fun captions to read regarding what is good, bad, cowardly, etc. when it comes to debate and rhetoric.   (Unfortunately, I think those were the misplaced readings… oops.)