Contemporary Composition

While attempting to make connections among our readings, I noticed a few interesting points worthy of discussion in James A. Berlin's "Contemporary Composition" and "The Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing."During his discussion about new logic, Berlin references George Campbell's Philosophy of Rhetoric. Here, Campbell describes how the relationship between language and thought "are made to correspond, and the qualities of one exactly to cooperate with those of the other" (Berlin 206). These thoughts almost directly tie in with Bedford's discussion about the debate between traditional scholars and scholars of rhetoric. The former building their argument on the assumption that "one first finds knowledge and then puts it into words," while the latter argues that "knowledge is actually created by words" (Bedford Bibliography).
I can make sense out of both arguments, but agree with Campbell's idea that language and thought must work together. As such, both traditional scholars and historians of rhetoric might find common ground by meeting in the middle of both arguments. We might agree with both sides to avoid this ongoing academic debate but, in all honesty, the only way to peace is by finding some form of common ground. Certainly we need knowledge to put something into words and, further, attain a different kind of knowledge through the creation of words. Perhaps a lot of this debate has to do with semantics?