Solving the Mystery of Rhetoric with Bones

Although not explicitly dealing with the same definition of ‘science’, Aristotle’s ‘wisdom’ in Ethics is strongly reflected in the television show Bones. Dr. Temperance Brennan has a strong foundation of science which she uses to identify human remains and solve murders with her partner, Seely Booth. Throughout the show Dr. Brennan constantly argues with Booth that solving crimes does not involve the human element of emotion, but fact derived from science; “let it be assumed that there are two parts which grasp a rational principle- one by which we contemplate the kind of things whose originative causes are invariable and one by which we contemplate variable things.” (138) According to Brennan, the bones she deals with cannot reveal anything but the truth.  Booth focuses on solving the murders through traditional investigative methods through talking with suspects and formulating opinions.  Brennan  is constantly irritated with Booth and his ‘conjecture’ when he is theorizing about the circumstances behind the deaths they are investigating.  Booth’s skills come from practical wisdom, “concerned with things human and things about which it is possible to deliberate; for we say this is above all the work of the man of practical wisdom, to deliberate well…” (146) The two vastly different personalities are similar to the virtues of rhetoric, they are seeking the truth, trying to strike a balance between science and emotional experience; “Hence it is necessary with regard to the states of the soul also, not only that this true statement should be made, but also that it should be determined what is the right rule and what is the standard that fixes it.” (137)

As viewers are entangled in the interpersonal connection of the strong characters they are drawn to conclude that both science and experience are needed to solve the murders. This is much like rhetoric, “It is clear, then, from what has been said, that it is not possible to be good in the strict sense without practical wisdom, or practically wise without moral virtue.” (158) As Aristotle explores and debates the origins and causes of things he is showing the skills rhetoricians must use to determine what is ‘good.’ As Warnick state, “Rhetoric’s aim as a techne is systematically to produce and judge arguments that can be applied by phronesis to produce right action." Much like Brennan and Booth investigating evidence to solve murders, rhetoric is investigating the many aspects of knowledge in order to solve the question of the right and the truth.