on certainty 376

17.3

376. I may claim with passion that I know that this (for example) is my foot.

yes – you may do this –

and to say this is just to emphasize the fact that the claim to knowledge –

is rhetorical

and once you see this –

it’s easy to see that if we are here talking about rhetorical use of language –

you can just as easily drop the ‘I know’ altogether –

‘this is my foot ‘ – will do 

and with passion?

perhaps a  tone of voice – or an exclamatory assertion accompanied with a stamp of the foot?

in short whatever you think might have the desired effect

© greg t. charlton. 2010.