ONLINE: The Trivium (Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric) and the medium of Language

This week we will examine the Trivium—grammar, logic, and rhetoric—and how it encodes a philosophy of language that shapes thought itself. We will also consider the medium or technologies of language—oral, written, and digital—and how each adds a distinctive depth to the notion of thought. When taken together, the Trivium and these three “technologies” of language reveal transformative correspondences:
Grammar ↔ Oral language → voice, presence
Logic ↔ Written language → inscription, order
Rhetoric ↔ Digital language → performative, persuasive
Grammar and orality, taken together, present the world (or reality) as the spoken word, characterized by presence, myth, and memory. Oral culture depends on repetition and communal participation; meaning is performed, not stored. Grammar, in this sense, becomes the art of relation—the way words live through the voice rather than as rules on a page. Martin Heidegger, in his 1959 work On the Way to Language, described language as “the house of Being”; the spoken word discloses a world before it is ever reduced to text.
Logic and writing, in turn, present the word as a system of inscription, rationalization, codification, and abstraction. Writing separates the word from the speaker, creating both distance and objectivity—the preconditions of logic. Authority shifts from the speaker’s presence to the text itself; the written word becomes the guarantor of truth. Michel Foucault, in his 1969 work,The Archaeology of Knowledge, distilled discourse as a system—writing as a mode of power and a site of knowledge formation.
Finally, rhetoric and digitality, taken together, present the return of the performative word. In the digital age, language is increasingly networked, algorithmically mediated, and entangled with image and text—a new form of orality. Digital media collapse the distinctions between writing and speech, creating a paradoxical simultaneity of immediacy and mediation. The rhetorical dimension reemerges through persuasion, identity performance, and narrative play. Katherine Hayles, in her 1999 work How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics, explores how digital media reorganize the processes of thinking, writing, reading, and, ultimately, language itself.
We hope you'll join Plato’s Cave and the Orlando Stoics for this thought-provoking discussion.
READING MATERIALS
The Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivium

Martin Heidegger - On the Way to Language
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heidegger/language.html

Michel Foucault - The Archaeology of Knowledge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Archaeology_of_Knowledge

Katherine Hayles - How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_We_Became_Posthuman

TIMEZONES
For our members in other states:
6:00 AM Pacific Time USA
7:00 AM Mountain Time USA
8:00 AM Central Time USA
9:00 AM Eastern Time USA
In other countries, please convert time using this free tool:
https://www.worldtimebuddy.com
The meeting starts at 9:00AM Eastern Time. After 15 minutes of chat, the presentation starts at 9:15AM sharp.
ZOOM INFO:
CLICK TO JOIN - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83190269900?pwd=Jj1lbWLo3sdhWL830ba4NoF66liJvB.1

This group is a combined meeting of the Orlando Stoics and Plato’s Cave members. We enjoy open-minded, respectful conversations. If we differ in our opinions, then "we agree to disagree.” The long-term goal is to expand our minds via group discussions.

This meeting is free and open to the public.