Deep Rhetoric: Philosophy, Reason, Violence, Justice, Wisdom
James Crosswhite
Abstract
“Rhetoric is the counterpart of logic,” claimed Aristotle. “Rhetoric is the first part of logic rightly understood,” Martin Heidegger concurred. “Rhetoric is the universal form of human communication,” opined Hans-Georg Gadamer. However, this book offers a new conception of rhetoric, one that builds a definitive case for an understanding of the discipline as a philosophical enterprise beyond basic argumentation and which is fully conversant with the advances of the New Rhetoric of Chaim Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca. Chapter by chapter, it develops an understanding of rhetoric not only i ... More
“Rhetoric is the counterpart of logic,” claimed Aristotle. “Rhetoric is the first part of logic rightly understood,” Martin Heidegger concurred. “Rhetoric is the universal form of human communication,” opined Hans-Georg Gadamer. However, this book offers a new conception of rhetoric, one that builds a definitive case for an understanding of the discipline as a philosophical enterprise beyond basic argumentation and which is fully conversant with the advances of the New Rhetoric of Chaim Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca. Chapter by chapter, it develops an understanding of rhetoric not only in its philosophical dimension but also as a means of guiding and conducting conflicts, achieving justice, and understanding the human condition. Along the way, the book restores the traditional dignity and importance of the discipline and illuminates the twentieth-century resurgence of rhetoric among philosophers, as well as the role that rhetoric can play in future discussions of ontology, epistemology, and ethics. At a time when the fields of philosophy and rhetoric have diverged, it returns them to their common moorings and shows us a new way forward.
Keywords:
rhetoric,
logic,
aristotle,
Martin Heidegger,
human communication,
Hans-Georg Gadamer,
Chaim Perelman,
Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca,
conflicts,
justice
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2013 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226016344 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: September 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226016511.001.0001 |
