Two Legs Better...Logically.

This spring, I will again be teaching the novel Animal Farm, George Orwell’s famous satire. In it, several of the characters, who represent factions of the Bolshevik Revolution, fall victim to many of the concepts in this chapter’s reading.

They adopt the maxim, “Four Legs Bad; Two Legs Good” as the impetus for their rebellion. In this sense, the maxim serves as a positive force in unifying the population in overthrowing the evil dictator Farmer Jones. The animals find freedom in its simplistic structure and generally enjoy reciting the anthem, as they “like to hear their beliefs confirmed” (183).

However, the revolutionary leaders, the pigs, later alter this maxim to fit their current goal in trading with the same humans with whom they rebelled against. The maxim then becomes “Four Legs Good; Two Legs Better.” The maxim is now used to justify the corrupt nature of the leaders and pacify the general population into thinking that the leaders are still adhering to the same values of the original rebellion, only with minor adaptations.

In their reading, my students gravitate most to the theme of the Exploitation of the Naive which examines the manipulation of the animals through the use of these maxims. They enjoy seeing how the pigs used various maxims and propaganda techniques throughout the novel to manipulate their inexperienced or ignorant counterparts.

I found it interesting then how Aristotle warns against exposing the naïve or inexperienced to these maxims considering how attractive these quick assertions of beliefs are: “one cautionary note about maxims is in order: Aristotle warned that maxims should not be used by young people, who run the risk of appearing to espouse something in a maxim that they have not learned through experience” (184).

I wonder how many times we as a society believe in a maxim or say a maxim without fully understanding the implication of the argument it is presenting. When parts of the enthymeme are omitted, the conclusion presents itself in an extremely assertive manner which can be easily accepted by not only the young, but essentially all those who enjoy the sound of it.

In Animal Farm this is nicely illustrated because the mass population is characterized as sheep that blindly follow in unison whatever directive is called for. But even then, it is easy to see how quickly the use of rhetoric and the charm of the logical argument can spiral out of control in contemporary society.

I look forward to see how next week’s reading on the Ethical Proof complements or contrasts this notion.