Media, expression and a new politics: eight theses

The study of communication begins with the separation between philosophy and rhetoric, that is, between the content of a message and its persuasive effect. Prior to the separation between a truth-content and a persuasive effect, an expression is an event that both establishes a truth and provokes an effect. In such a condition there is no concept of a medium of communication but only a meaningful and effective world constructed through events. The separation between philosophy and rhetoric divides truth from politics and sets up a long history of their conflict. The convergence of philosophy and rhetoric in the twentieth century signifies the event whereby this separation is being re-encountered and shifted. Understanding this event is the first step toward encountering the coming event of the media world.