FINDING THEMES AND PATTERNS
Some ideas—particularly those featured in this book, such as the role of law and government or the essence of human nature and the mind—have been explored throughout history in societies that otherwise have little in common. Showing how these ideas influence one another and how they appear in different societies and contexts throughout history can help you synthesize multiple arguments.
Show how ideas interact
One very important way to synthesize arguments is to demonstrate how ideas interact with each other. Ideas can influence other ideas in a number of different ways:
One idea can be based directly on another idea. For example, William Blake's poem "The Tyger" is based directly on the idea of the sublime articulated by Edmund Burke in The Sublime and Beautiful.
An idea can be based indirectly on another idea. Garrett Hardin's "Lifeboat Ethics," for instance, draws much of its inspiration from Thomas Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population.
An idea can be influenced by a combination of other ideas. For example, Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species was influenced by Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, which established that the earth was much older than people had previously thought, and Thomas Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population, which showed how the competition for resources changed certain aspects of human society.
An idea can be based on a general perception created by another influential text. For example, Edward Wilson's argument in "The Fitness of Human Nature" draws largely on the framework for understanding nature created by Charles Darwin.
An idea can synthesize a number of other ideas. For example, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" cites the work of, among others, Jesus, Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, and Thomas Aquinas.
An idea can be formulated as a rebuttal to another idea. For example, Hsun Tzu's "Man's Nature Is Evil" was written in direct rebuttal to Mencius's views in "Man's Nature Is Good."
An idea can be formulated in general opposition to another system of thought. For example, George Orwell's "Pacifism and the War" opposes the entire ethical position of pacifism.
To demonstrate a pattern of influence among two or more texts, you must first establish that such influence is theoretically possible. You do not have to prove that one author knew another author's work directly. People can be very influenced by ideas whose sources they do not know. However, no idea has been universally influential at every moment in history. It would be difficult to assert, for example, that Plato was influenced by the Buddha's teachings, which were written down thousands of miles away in a culture that had no known contact with Plato's Athens. And it would be impossible to argue persuasively that Plato was influenced by the ideas of Richard Feynman, who lived and wrote more than two thousand years after Plato died.
Once the possibility of influence has been established, the case for influence must be made through very close readings of the relevant texts. Consider an assignment to explore the possible influences of Taoism on Sun Tzu's military theories in The Art of War. For the most part, Sun Tzu's ideas could not be further removed from Lao Tzu's. Lao Tzu was a pacifist who abhorred war and believed that it is wrong to try to force people to do anything. Sun Tzu was a military commander who believed that, with the right tools, it is always possible to impose one's will on another. However, both texts came out of China's Period of Warring States, and Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is unquestionably the older of the two works. Under these circumstances, it is entirely possible that Sun Tzu's work was influenced by the Tao Te Ching.
But the fact that Sun Tzu does not directly quote or refer to Lao Tzu means that the case for influence must be made through close reading. To create a persuasive case for influence, begin by listing each text's main points:
TAO TE CHING
Exertion is unnecessary.
Leaders should allow things to happen naturally.
Distinctions between people are counterproductive.
Genuine power is achieved by allowing others to come to you.
The best way to govern people is not to govern them.
It is impossible to influence the course of events.
War is senseless.
Leaders should always follow "the Way."
THE ART OF WAR
The best way to win a battle is not to fight it.
An enemy should be taken intact, without destroying cities.
Understanding military strategy is important.
Politicians should not interfere with generals.
Harmonious human relations are important to victory.
Commanders should know themselves.
Commanders should know their enemies.
Lurking amid all of the different assertions in these two texts is one undeniable similarity: Sun Tzu, like Lao Tzu, believes that winning through inaction (that is, never having to fight) is superior to winning through action (that is, superior numbers or strategies). Given the prevalence of Taoist ideas during the time in which Sun Tzu wrote, this similarity is not likely coincidental; rather, it is strong evidence of a pattern of influence.
Locate a larger theme
Another way to synthesize ideas is to show how a text fits into a larger theme, or big idea. Many of the selections in this book attest to the fact that human beings struggling with similar questions often come up with similar—or at least partially similar—answers. Cultures and individuals with no connections to each other have arrived at strikingly similar responses to questions such as "Is human nature good or evil?", "Is war ever justified?", and "Do we have a responsibility to those less fortunate than ourselves?"
To see how individual ideas fit into larger themes or patterns, consider the following five images, all of which appear in this book:
Dorothea Lange: Migrant Mother (p. 568)
Pablo Picasso: Guernica (p. 497)
William Hogarth: Gin Lane (p. 548)
Joseph Wright of Derby: An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (p. 308)
Lisa Yuskavage: Babie I (p. 286)
The following chart attempts to describe the mother-and-child theme of each work as it relates to the work's larger theme.
DESCRIPTION OF
WORK
MOTHER-AND-CHILD SCENE
OVERALL THEME
Dorothea Lange:
The mother holds a baby to
The determination of a
Migrant Mother
her breast, shelters it from the
mother to protect her
camera and the squalor of
children
the lean-to.
Pablo Picasso:
An anguished mother holds
The anguish of war
Guernica
the twisted body of a dead child.
William Hogarth:
A drunken mother reaches for a
The negative consequences
Gin Lane
dip of snuff while her infant
of alcoholism
child falls to its death.
Joseph Wright of
A terrified mother turns away
The mixed reaction to
Derby: An Experiment
from the experiment while
scientific progress during
on a Bird in the
holding her daughter, who looks
the Enlightenment
Air Pump
on with a mix of terror and
curiosity.
Lisa Yuskavage:
A woman who does not appear to
The ambiguous position
Babie I
be a wife or a mother holds a wilt-