This quote from Ong's 1971 book is taken from Chapter 1: "Rhetoric and the History of Consciousness" (pp. 1-22). "Rhetoric and the History of Consciousness" is reprinted in volume 4 of Ong's Faith and Contexts, edited by Thomas J. Farrell and Paul A. Soukup (1999, pp. 93-102).
Yes, to be sure, the history of the theory and practice of rhetoric in our Western cultural history is a central theme in Ong's work. Yes, to be sure, in all 665 of my OEN articles, I am engaged in the practice of rhetoric as I try to persuade and convince my readers of my various interpretations in my 665 OEN articles.
Now, Ong also sums up Neumann's Jungian account of the eight stages of consciousness in his (Ong's) book Fighting for Life: Contest, Sexuality [Gender], and Consciousness (1981, pp. 18-19; but also see the "Index" for further references to Neumann [p. 228]), the published version of Ong's 1979 Messenger Lectures at Cornell University.
Now, back to my account of how American politics is downstream, figuratively speaking, from American culture in my 28,800-word 665th OEN article. For the sake of possibly advancing American culture in the near future, I urge American men of a certain age to use the fantasy skits in Mandy Flores' charming mom-son porn videos, and the other mom-son videos that are available free on the internet, to help them possibly also experience the liberation of endogamous kinship libido "married within" their psyches to the early childhood image in their psyches of their own moms. But I hasten to add that American men who are misogynists, as Trump and his many male MAGA supporters are, are not ready psychologically to experience the liberation of the endogamous kinship libido "married within" their psyches to their early childhood image of their own moms in the psyches.
Ah, but what about the endogamous kinship libido "married within' my psyche to my early childhood image of my father? Yes, I have yet to experience the liberation of the endogamous kinship libido that is "marries within" my psyche to my early childhood image of my father. This liberation will no doubt be part of my experience of stage (8) of the eight stages of consciousness that Neumann describes.
Incidentally, my father was in the Army and stationed in dover, England, on March 17, 1944, when my mother gave birth to me in my father's hometown of Ossining, New York. In any event, my father returned to Ossining in 1945, and entered my life for the time after I was born when I was 18 months old.
Now, before I turn away from discussing Mandy Flores to a few closing points, I want to make one further point here about her. In my "Digression: My Song About Mandy Flores and Her Mom-Son Porn videos" in my 28,800-word 665th OEN article, I refer to her as my muse in that article. This still strikes me as an apt characterization of the roles she played in my writing that wide-ranging and deeply personal OEN article. Simply stated, I found Mandy Flores an inspiration. She inspired me then, and she still inspires me now today as I write about her further in the present "Probe" essay - in which the name Mandy Flores appears 33 times. Ong's name also appears 38 times in the present "Probe" essay, including in the "References" at the end of the essay.
Ah, but is the role of muse for me that Mandy Flores played in my writing of the long and deeply personal 28,800-word 665th OEN essay related to anything that Ong discusses anywhere in his publications? I would say, yes, the role that Mandy Flores played in my writing that long and deeply personal long and wide-ranging 665th OEN article is definitely positively related to what Ong refers to as "the Art of Discourse" in the subtitle of his massively researched 1958 book Ramus Method, and the Decay of Dialogue: From the Art of Discourse to the Art of Reason (as in Ramist logic -- and as in philosophy in the Age of Reason).
Let me put my points here differently. What Ong means by "the Art of Reason" basically involves what I would describe as isolated intellectual contemplation. By contrast, what Ong refers to as "the Art of Discourse" involves, implicitly at least, attempting to speak directly to the soul of the person I am addressing. In the case of my 28,800-word 665th OEN article, the person I am primarily addressing in it is Mandy Flores with her beautiful big (39") boobs and her eye-catching big nipples and her clean-shaven p*ssy as I see her perform in her many charming mom-son porn videos.
Now, by addressing myself to the soul of Mandy Flores in my writing about her, I am attempting to engage in the spirit of I-thou communication with her in my writing - but of course I-thou communication with Mandy Flores is not possible in writing, but only in live face-to-face communication with her. Amen. Well, the time has now come for me now to say goodbye here to Mandy Flores.
For further discussion of the philosophical life, see the American scholar Agnes Callard's learned but accessible new 2025 book Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life.
Agnes Collard was born in 1976; she received her B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1997, and her Ph.D. from the University of California - Berkeley in 2008. She is a professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago.
For a review of Professor Callard's accessible new 2025 book, see NYT book reviewer Jennifer Szalai's article "The Secret to a Good Life? Thinking Like Socrates. In Open Socrates, the University of Chicago scholar Agnes Callard argues that the ancient Greek philosopher offers a blueprint for an ethical life" (dated January 15, 2025) in The New York Times.
The most efficient way for me to provide you with an introductory overview of Callard's accessible new 2025 book Open Socrates is to tell you its parts:
Title page (p. i).
Copyright page (p. ii).
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