The Rhetor as Hero and the Pursuit of Truth: The Case of 9/11

This essay offers a discussion and critical assessment of how attempted acts of rhetorical heroism presuppose, at least from an ontological perspective, a genuine concern for disclosing "the truth" of matters of importance. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, serves as the case study for exploring the relationship between rhetoric, heroism, and truth. The ontological basis of this relationship is associated with what is described as the heroic structure of human existence that presents itself as a primordial form of epideictic speech and that speaks a moral directive heard as a call of conscience. The events of 9/11 worked to disclose the evocative nature of this structure.