In our class discussions we have covered the topic concerning Doxa and Episteme in a manner to identify between the two in visual representations. The two ideas are misleading at first. Doxa revolves around a common belief while Episteme is factual or a justified truth. In the most simplest form, the two could be misinterpreted and considered the same but they are not. An example of Doxa could be how people perceive political figures, like Donald Trump, as a racist. This may hold strength when providing evidence of particular dates or events that Trump was quoted using hurtful language toward minorities, but, there is not solid, concrete, or law to prove that Donal Trump is racist, only to say that is comments where racist would count. Taking Episteme into consideration, there must be an agreement or understanding based on scientific study or factual evidence to prove an idea or belief. An example of this could be considering how Cigarettes cause lung cancer. This initially was considered a Doxa, but with long periods of scientific studies and analysis between the correlation of cigarettes and people lungs, there was proof to support that smoking tobacco would cause lung cancer. This could also be said for sports, like in football, where over long studies of analyzing the effects physical impacts could damage a players brain.

We examined advertisements in class such as the Ted Cruz political cartoon and the football PSA which helped clarify the difference between Epsiteme and Doxa. It can be quite difficult to understand Episteme and Doxa, but something that distinguishes the two is that fact is a result from process and truth to be rules that are abided by. This ties to another concept called “Empirical Investigation” which discusses the observation of scientific revolution or the basis for inductive reasoning. What initially separates the two ideas is the ability to prove one (Episteme) through a scientific or mechanical process while the other (Doxa) is inferred based off of an audience that generates an idea. We were also introduced to the term “Techne” and how it is defines as the knowledge applied to craft or “know how”. Applying everything together we come to the consensus that Rhetoric is the cultural construction of knowledge. It is because of the scientific method that we create Empirical research which then leads to inductive reasoning and how a common belief (Doxa) can become a justified truth (Epsiteme) after long periods of scientific discovery. In some cases, Episteme can be Doxa due to religion, food, and culture. Doxa finds itself categorized as scientific, cultural, and political as these are where most ideas are commonly associated with popular beliefs by audiences’.

Furthermore, Doxa and Episteme can be applied in the Ethos and Logos branches of rhetoric, technically all three, but most closely and directly related to the two just mentioned. Ethos is the method that something is given credibility, which can be tied back to a common belief (Doxa) that football causes brain damage. Whereas Logos would be the justified truth (Episteme) in finding evidence that scientifically proves the effects physical impact has on the human brain. In this scenario, the ability to combine an audience belief with a justified truth is possible, but not in all cases, or in other words a Doxa can be an Episteme but an Epistme may not revert to a Doxa or popular belief.