A Picture Is Not an Argument (MP3 download)

By Leonard Peikoff In today’s culture, on behalf of causes ranging from abortion to war, people often rely on emotion-provoking images to attract others to their viewpoints. In this 1998 lecture delivered at Boston’s Ford Hall Forum, philosopher Leonard Peikoff examines the use of imagery to convey a position. Motivated by an invitation he received to participate in an abortion debate using pictures, Peikoff discusses why he would never enter in to such a debate, even with truth on his side.Peikoff begins by discussing the common view of words and pictures in arguments. He discusses how people often equate pictures with the truth, whereas words are commonly seen as lies and distortion: “A picture, according to the received wisdom, is worth a thousand words. A picture does not lie, whereas people . . . notoriously can and do.” Discussing the appeal to pictures as the standard of proof, he gives examples of the use of powerful imagery in issues such as abortion, the bombing of Hiroshima