The Ideal of Eloquence in the Age of Hume

The Ideal of Eloquence in the Age of Hume PDF Author: Adam Stanley Potkay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Enlightenment
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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The Ideal of Eloquence in the Age of Hume

The Ideal of Eloquence in the Age of Hume PDF Author: Adam Stanley Potkay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Enlightenment
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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The Fate of Eloquence in the Age of Hume

The Fate of Eloquence in the Age of Hume PDF Author: Adam Potkay
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501732102
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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This engaging and insightful book explores the fate of eloquence in a period during which it both denoted a living oratorical art and served as a major factor in political thought. Seeing Hume's philosophy as a key to the literature of the mid-eighteenth century, Adam Potkay compares the staus of eloquence in Hume's Essays and Natural History of Religion to its status in novels by Sterne, poems by Pope and Gray, and Macpherson's Poems of Ossian. Potkay explains the sense of urgency that the concept of eloquence evoked among eighteenth-century British readers, for whom it recalled Demosthenes exhorting Athenian citizens to oppose tyranny. Revived by Hume and many other writers, the concept of eloquence resonated deeply for an audience who perceived its own political community as being in danger of disintegration. Potkay also shows how, beginning in the realm of literature, the fashion of polite style began to eclipse that of political eloquence. An ethos suitable both to the family circle and to a public sphere that included women, "politeness" entailed a sublimation of passions, a "feminine modesty as opposed to "masculine" display, and a style that sought rather to placate or stabilize than to influence the course of events. For Potkay, the tension between the ideals of ancient eloquence and of modern politeness defined literary and political discourses alike between 1726 and 1770: although politeness eventually gained ascendancy, eloquence was never silenced.

The Politics of Eloquence

The Politics of Eloquence PDF Author: Marc Hanvelt
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 144264379X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
History has shown us that the power of political speech can be put to both positive and manipulative ends - while rhetoric is a powerful tool for those who seek to persuade others to adopt their views, it can also be employed to foment factionalism and undermine the very basis of a democratic society. In this unique study, Marc Hanvelt shows how eighteenth-century philosopher David Hume confronted questions about the negative moral and political effects of rhetoric, and how he differentiated between manipulative and non-manipulative political speech. Drawing on Hume's philosophical, historical, and popular writings, The Politics of Eloquence presents an understanding of rhetoric that can be properly ascribed to this important thinker, an understanding hitherto overlooked in the scholarly literature. Offering an original approach to thinking about political rhetoric – an essential element of democratic politics – Hanvelt makes important contributions to both Hume scholarship and to broader areas in political theory and philosophy.

A Noble Art for a Modern Age

A Noble Art for a Modern Age PDF Author: Marc Hanvelt
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780494280850
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
This thesis argues that David Hume's philosophy of mind commits him to assign an important role to rhetoric in political life and that the conception of rhetoric that emerges from Hume's writings is integral to his political philosophy. Hume's work was motivated by his interest in defeating the forces of faction and fanaticism. His philosophy of mind exposes the porous foundations of superstitious beliefs. It also reveals the power of rhetoric to elicit passions and to disseminate beliefs, both sound and superstitious. Hume was acutely aware of the dangers posed by rhetorically gifted fanatics. However, unlike many of his contemporaries, he saw these as dangers of fanaticism not rhetoric. Hume distinguished between the low cant of the fanatics and a higher form of rhetoric that I term accurate, just, and polite. For the most part, Hume thought the politicians of his day to be poor orators who were incapable of politeness. However, he held out hope for a politics in which the power of oratory could be turned toward the promotion of common goods and a general improvement of morals by providing a means through which interests could be opposed without producing violent factions. Hume's conception of high rhetoric combines his philosophy of accurate and just reasoning with a rhetorical style that appeals to the human compulsion to make judgments and eighteenth century standards of politeness. For Hume, politeness consists in the arts of conversation. Hume's is a distinctive conception of rhetoric that revives and modernises the ancient eloquence that he greatly admired. An accurate, just, and polite orator will employ the tropes and rhetorical style that Hume draws from an idealised vision of Demosthenes to promulgate and defend accurate and just arguments in a polite manner. Understanding how Hume's conception of rhetoric is rooted in his philosophical, historical, and political writings is important for understanding the full scope of his political philosophy as well as the insights he offers to students of political discourse who grapple with the truly philosophical question of how to distinguish positive from negative forms of political speech.

On Eloquence

On Eloquence PDF Author: Denis Donoghue
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300145055
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 207

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Book Description
On Eloquence questions the common assumption that eloquence is merely a subset of rhetoric, a means toward a rhetorical end. Denis Donoghue, an eminent and prolific critic of the English language, holds that this assumption is erroneous. In this book, Donoghue maintains that eloquence should be examined independent of mere rhetoric and that it has its own intrinsic value.

The Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies

The Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies PDF Author: Michael J. MacDonald
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190689897
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 784

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Book Description
One of the most remarkable trends in the humanities and social sciences in recent decades has been the resurgence of interest in the history, theory, and practice of rhetoric: in an age of global media networks and viral communication, rhetoric is once again "contagious" and "communicable" (Friedrich Nietzsche). Featuring sixty commissioned chapters by eminent scholars of rhetoric from twelve countries, The Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies offers students and teachers an engaging and sophisticated introduction to the multidisciplinary field of rhetorical studies. The Handbook traces the history of Western rhetoric from ancient Greece and Rome to the present and surveys the role of rhetoric in more than thirty academic disciplines and fields of social practice. This combination of historical and topical approaches allows readers to chart the metamorphoses of rhetoric over the centuries while mapping the connections between rhetoric and law, politics, science, education, literature, feminism, poetry, composition, philosophy, drama, criticism, digital media, art, semiotics, architecture, and other fields. Chapters provide the information expected of a handbook-discussion of key concepts, texts, authors, problems, and critical debates-while also posing challenging questions and advancing new arguments. In addition to offering an accessible and comprehensive introduction to rhetoric in the European and North American context, the Handbook includes a timeline of major works of rhetorical theory, translations of all Greek and Latin passages, extensive cross-referencing between chapters, and a glossary of more than three hundred rhetorical terms. These features will make this volume a valuable scholarly resource for students and teachers in rhetoric, English, classics, comparative literature, media studies, communication, and adjacent fields. As a whole, the Handbook demonstrates that rhetoric is not merely a form of stylish communication but a pragmatic, inventive, and critical art that operates in myriad social contexts and academic disciplines.

Oratory in Action

Oratory in Action PDF Author: Michael Edwards
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719062810
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This book examines the power and possibilities of public speaking, ranging from the oratory of the Athenian law courts to the political oratory of New Labour. A distinctive feature of the book is its conception of the orator as a performer and practitioner, and of oratory itself as a form of action. Historically, the power of eloquence to rouse and influence an audience made the orator a controversial figure whose rhetorical skills provoked suspicion and awe in almost equal measure. These essays show how orators exploit those skills in their attempts to shape the external world of opinion and fact. They also show how the speech itself may be considered as a linguistic event or "way of happening" which seeks to bind the orator and the audience in prized moments of connection.

Eloquence a Virtue, Or Outlines of a Systematic Rhetoric (Classic Reprint)

Eloquence a Virtue, Or Outlines of a Systematic Rhetoric (Classic Reprint) PDF Author: Franz Theremin
Publisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9781396065439
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Excerpt from Eloquence a Virtue, or Outlines of a Systematic Rhetoric Any treatise, therefore, of which the tendency is to restore the connection between Thought and its expres sion, cannot but be beneficial in its influence upon both the theory and practice of Eloquence. Even if it were constructed upon a false fundamental principle, and, as a systematic whole, were incorrect, still the mere effort to systematize the subject - the striving to ground it in something deeper and more solid than its own hollow forms, would not be without its salutary influ ence upon the art itself and the student. It would, at least, direct attention to the fact, that an art like Rhe toric should be based upon some science, and that its rules and. Max'ims, in order to be eflicient and influen tial, must be the off-shoots of principles lying deeper than themselves. It would point to the adaptation that really exists in the nature of things, and that ought actually to exist in practice, between an instrument employed by the human mind, and addressing itself tie it, and the human mind itself. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Veteran Poetics

Veteran Poetics PDF Author: Catherine Mary McLoughlin
Publisher:
ISBN: 1107195934
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
Illustrates how war veterans have been used in British literature since the 1790s to explore being, knowing and storytelling.

Dialogues on Eloquence in General

Dialogues on Eloquence in General PDF Author: François de Salignac de La Mothe- Fénelon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Oratory
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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