Terror, Philosophy And The Sublime Summary

In Richard Kearney’s article “Terror, Philosophy and The Sublime”, he begins with the statement “how can we understand the ‘terror’ of September 11th?” (23), Kearney begins to summarize the event of September 11th and the decision the United States made after the attack. In his second paragraph he relates his own experience from visiting a exhibition about “Terrors and Wonders” showing the representation of different monsters and how we see them today. Kearney uses his personal experience by trying to understand the “terror” of September 11th along with extensive research to show his credibility. The rhetorical appeals of logos, pathos and ethos creates an argument showing readers how we as americans are able to get through a monstrous situation.

In his first few paragraph he gives us a summary of what happened during September 11th and how America reacted to this monstrous act “ The initial response of President Bush was to divide the world into good and evil” (24). He shows a reliable source being President Bush, and explains why the United States went to war. In his argument of wanting to explain and help Americans understand the terror of September 11th, he provides strong and reliable evidence on why the choices that were made, were for the best of the American people. Richard Kearney again chooses to quote President Bush after he gave a speech to the American people in November of 2002 saying “ We wage a war to save Civilization itself..We have our marching orders. Fellow Americans, Let's Roll. Kearney than goes on to explain that “Lets Roll” was the quote said by the passenger who went face to face with the terrorists before the fourth plane crashed. Having this immense reason and logic gives the readers a reason to believe the argument and want to keep reading. There is no question on, if Kearney knows what he is talking about or making an invalid

In “Terror, Philosophy and The Sublime”, we as readers, have the emotion of fear. Kearney’s tone and writing style made us relive September 11th. In the summary of what happened on the day of September 11th he used many different idioms to show the extent of fear american had, “ Idioms of virus, poison, disease and contamination were variously deployed to express the sense of an omnipresent menace – especially when the terror from the air was accompanied by terror in the air: the fear of anthrax, smallpox and other agents of bio- chemical destruction (24). After he showcases the fear americans had and along with rest of the world, he reminds us of how we came together as a country making us forget about the fear and seeing the good “was a phenomenal upsurge of patriotic fervour evidenced in the proliferation of star-spangled banners and typified in the 24 September cover headline of Time magazine – ‘ONE NATION,