Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason

Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason PDF Author: David Hirsch
Publisher: Savas Beatie
ISBN: 1611210585
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
The secrets of one of history’s greatest orators are revealed in “one of the most stunningly original works on Abraham Lincoln to appear in years” (John Stauffer, professor of English and history, Harvard University). For more than 150 years, historians have speculated about what made Abraham Lincoln truly great. How did Lincoln create his compelling arguments, his convincing oratory, and his unforgettable writing? Some point to Lincoln’s study of grammar, literature, and poetry. Others believe it was the deep national crisis that gave import to his words. Most agree that he honed his persuasive technique in his work as an Illinois attorney. Here, the authors argue that it was Lincoln’s in-depth study of geometry that made the president’s verbal structure so effective. In fact, as the authors demonstrate, Lincoln embedded the ancient structure of geometric proof into the Gettysburg Address, the Cooper Union speech, the first and second inaugurals, his legal practice, and much of his substantive post-1853 communication. Also included are Lincoln’s preparatory notes and drafts of some of his most famous speeches as well as his revisions and personal thoughts on public speaking and grammar. With in-depth research and provocative insight, Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason “offers a whole new angle on Lincoln’s brilliance” (James M. Cornelius, Curator, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum).

Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason

Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason PDF Author: David Hirsch
Publisher: Savas Beatie
ISBN: 1611210585
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 465

Get Book Here

Book Description
The secrets of one of history’s greatest orators are revealed in “one of the most stunningly original works on Abraham Lincoln to appear in years” (John Stauffer, professor of English and history, Harvard University). For more than 150 years, historians have speculated about what made Abraham Lincoln truly great. How did Lincoln create his compelling arguments, his convincing oratory, and his unforgettable writing? Some point to Lincoln’s study of grammar, literature, and poetry. Others believe it was the deep national crisis that gave import to his words. Most agree that he honed his persuasive technique in his work as an Illinois attorney. Here, the authors argue that it was Lincoln’s in-depth study of geometry that made the president’s verbal structure so effective. In fact, as the authors demonstrate, Lincoln embedded the ancient structure of geometric proof into the Gettysburg Address, the Cooper Union speech, the first and second inaugurals, his legal practice, and much of his substantive post-1853 communication. Also included are Lincoln’s preparatory notes and drafts of some of his most famous speeches as well as his revisions and personal thoughts on public speaking and grammar. With in-depth research and provocative insight, Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason “offers a whole new angle on Lincoln’s brilliance” (James M. Cornelius, Curator, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum).

Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason

Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason PDF Author: David Hirsch
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781611212518
Category : Reasoning
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
For more than 150 years, historians have speculated about what made Abraham Lincoln great. Some point to Lincoln's study of grammar, literature, and poetry. Others believe it was the deep national crisis that elevated Lincoln's oratory. Most agree though that he honed his persuasive technique in his work as an Illinois attorney. Authors Hirsch and Van Haften persuasively argue, for the first time, that it was Lincoln's in-depth study of geometry that gave our sixteenth president his verbal structure. Although Lincoln's fascination with geometry is well documented, most historians have concluded that his study of the subject was little more than mental calisthenics. In fact, conclude the authors, Lincoln embedded the ancient structure of geometric proof into the Gettysburg Address, the Cooper Union speech, the First and Second Inaugurals, his legal practice, and much of his substantive post-1853 communication. Modern science can be traced back to Greek geometric method, but rhetoric, which morphed into speech and then into communications, has barely advanced since Aristotle. Lincoln's structure emancipates speech from Aristotle and unleashes limitless possibilities. Indeed, his use of geometric method in rhetoric and writing has long been a secret hiding in plain sight. Virtually any literate person can become an Abraham Lincoln by structuring speech with iron logic, as aptly demonstrated by this remarkable new study. Among other things, the authors artfully demonstrate the real importance of the Cooper Union speech (which helped make Lincoln president), offer a startling revelation about the Declaration of Independence that connects Lincoln to Thomas Jefferson more closely than anyone previously realized, and show how the structure of the legal system played an even more important role in Lincoln's greatness than heretofore realized. With the paperback release of Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason, Lincoln immediately takes on a new importance that will open an entirely new avenue of scholarly study.

The Ultimate Guide to the Gettysburg Address

The Ultimate Guide to the Gettysburg Address PDF Author: David Hirsch
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1940669677
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 65

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Book Description
Abraham Lincoln’s November 19, 1863, Gettysburg Address is generally recognized as one of the greatest leadership speeches ever written. The Ultimate Guide to the Gettysburg Address explains the 272-word speech more thoroughly than any book previously published. With the aid of colorized step-by-step diagrams, the authors deconstruct the speech into its basic elements and demonstrate how the scientific method is basic to the structure of the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s fascination with geometry is well documented. Authors David Hirsch and Dan Van Haften, however, are the first to discover and then demonstrate Lincoln’s use of the six elements of a proposition and then diagram and explain how his in-depth study of geometry helped him compose the Gettysburg Address. The result is a deeper and richer understanding of the Gettysburg Address that was not previously possible. This concise color examination of one of our nation’s most treasured and important speeches is perfect for all ages and especially for those interested in history, the use of language, and logic.

The Battles that Made Abraham Lincoln

The Battles that Made Abraham Lincoln PDF Author: Larry Tagg
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1611211271
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 661

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Book Description
A timely look at the atmosphere of political hostility surrounding the Civil War, and the venom faced by America’s sixteenth president. Today, Abraham Lincoln is a beloved American icon, widely considered to be our best president. It was not always so. This book takes a look at what Lincoln’s contemporaries actually thought and said about him during his lifetime, when political hostilities, and ultimately civil war, raged. The era in which our sixteenth president lived and governed was the most rough-and-tumble in the history of American politics. The hostility behind the criticism aimed at Lincoln by the great men of his time, on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, is startling, the spectacular prejudice against him often shocking for its cruelty, intensity, and unrelenting vigor. The plain truth is that Lincoln was deeply reviled by many in his time. This book is both an entertaining read and a well-researched, serious look at the political context that begat the president’s predicament. Lincoln’s humanity has been unintentionally trivialized by some historians and writers who have hidden away the real man in a patina of bronze. This book helps us better understand the man he was, and how history is better and more clearly viewed through a long-distance lens. “Not the warm and fuzzy portrait we’re used to seeing . . . An eye-opening study, the first of its kind to focus on what Lincoln’s contemporaries really thought of him. On the other hand, this is not mean-spirited Lincoln-bashing . . . Tagg assesses his presidency through the social and political context of mid-19th century America. It was a time, for example, when ‘the rabid press routinely destroyed the reputations of public men,’ when the stature of the presidency, ‘stained by feeble performances from a string of the poorest presidents in the nation’s history,’ had plunged over decades.” —Civil War Times Magazine

The Tyranny of Public Discourse

The Tyranny of Public Discourse PDF Author: David Hirsch
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781611214741
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Are you satisfied with the current state of public discourse? The almost unanimous response from people across the nation is a loud and emphatic "No!"The reply is always the same regardless of politics. Today's public discourse typically starts with a "conclusion" and goes downhill from there. If there are talking heads, argument begins instantly and typically runs in circles. This is a dangerous path for a society that depends upon civility and virtue to survive. The Tyranny of Public Discourse: Abraham Lincoln's Six-Element Antidote for Meaningful and Persuasive Writing by scholars David Hirsch and Dan Van Haften addresses what is one of the most important issues of our time.This book can teach anyone how to use logic and reason to create persuasive writing. A byproduct of this is the civility that will ensue with an elevated public discourse. The Tyranny of Public Discourse establishes the six elements of a proposition as a verbal form of the scientific method--something Abraham Lincoln knew and used routinely. His logic and reason is so well known that it is quoted today more than 150 years after his death. Learning the six elements and how to use them to discuss any topic at any time is not only fascinating, but fairly easy to understand and implement. This book sets it all out, step-by-step and color coded, from beginning to end.The Tyranny of Public Discourse: Abraham Lincoln's Six-Element Antidote for Meaningful and Persuasive Writing, complete with 21 diagrams on how to structure your logic, is the book you have been waiting for. The time is short, and the hour is now.

The Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway PDF Author: Amor Towles
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735222363
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 593

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Book Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than ONE MILLION copies sold A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A New York Times Notable Book, a New York Times Readers’ Choice Best Book of the Century, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Bill Gates and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year “Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth.” —The New York Times Book Review “A classic that we will read for years to come.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Read with Jenna book club “Fantastic. Set in 1954, Towles uses the story of two brothers to show that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope.” —Bill Gates “A real joyride . . . elegantly constructed and compulsively readable.” —NPR The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York. Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles's third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes. “Once again, I was wowed by Towles’s writing—especially because The Lincoln Highway is so different from A Gentleman in Moscow in terms of setting, plot, and themes. Towles is not a one-trick pony. Like all the best storytellers, he has range. He takes inspiration from famous hero’s journeys, including The Iliad, The Odyssey, Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Of Mice and Men. He seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as an interstate highway. But, he suggests, when something (or someone) tries to steer us off course, it is possible to take the wheel.” – Bill Gates

Political Debates Between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in the Celebrated Campaign of 1858 in Illinois

Political Debates Between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in the Celebrated Campaign of 1858 in Illinois PDF Author: Abraham Lincoln
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Campaign debates
Languages : en
Pages : 582

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Book Description


Lincoln's Tragic Pragmatism

Lincoln's Tragic Pragmatism PDF Author: John Burt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674070534
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 818

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Book Description
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice In 1858, challenger Abraham Lincoln debated incumbent Stephen Douglas seven times in the race for a U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. More was at stake than slavery in those debates. In Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism, John Burt contends that the very legitimacy of democratic governance was on the line. In a United States stubbornly divided over ethical issues, the overarching question posed by the Lincoln-Douglas debates has not lost its urgency: Can a liberal political system be used to mediate moral disputes? And if it cannot, is violence inevitable? “John Burt has written a work that every serious student of Lincoln will have to read...Burt refracts Lincoln through the philosophy of Kant, Rawls and contemporary liberal political theory. His is very much a Lincoln for our time.” —Steven B. Smith, New York Times Book Review “I'm making space on my overstuffed shelves for Lincoln’s Tragic Pragmatism. This is a book I expect to be picking up and thumbing through for years to come.” —Jim Cullen, History News Network “Burt treats the [Lincoln-Douglas] debates as being far more significant than an election contest between two candidates. The debates represent profound statements of political philosophy and speak to the continuing challenges the U.S. faces in resolving divisive moral conflicts.” —E. C. Sands, Choice

Lincoln at Gettysburg

Lincoln at Gettysburg PDF Author: Garry Wills
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439126453
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
The power of words has rarely been given a more compelling demonstration than in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was asked to memorialize the gruesome battle. Instead, he gave the whole nation "a new birth of freedom" in the space of a mere 272 words. His entire life and previous training, and his deep political experience went into this, his revolutionary masterpiece. By examining both the address and Lincoln in their historical moment and cultural frame, Wills breathes new life into words we thought we knew, and reveals much about a president so mythologized but often misunderstood. Wills shows how Lincoln came to change the world and to effect an intellectual revolution, how his words had to and did complete the work of the guns, and how Lincoln wove a spell that has not yet been broken.

Abraham Lincoln and Liberal Democracy

Abraham Lincoln and Liberal Democracy PDF Author: Nicholas Buccola
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700622179
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Though Abraham Lincoln was not a political philosopher per se, in word and in deed he did grapple with many of the most pressing and timeless questions in politics. What is the moral basis of popular sovereignty? What are the proper limits on the will of the majority? When and why should we revere the law? What are we to do when the letter of the law is at odds with what we believe justice requires? How is our devotion to a particular nation related to our commitment to universal ideals? What is the best way to protect the right to liberty for all people? The contributors to this volume, a methodologically and ideologically diverse group of scholars, examine Lincoln's responses to these and other ultimate questions in politics. The result is a fascinating portrait of not only Abraham Lincoln but also the promises and paradoxes of liberal democracy. The basic liberal democratic idea is that individual liberty is best secured by a democratic political order that treats all citizens as equals before the law and is governed by the law, with its limits on how the state may treat its citizens and on how citizens may treat one another. Though wonderfully coherent in theory, these ideas prove problematic in real-world politics. The authors of this volume approach Lincoln as the embodiment of this paradox--"naturally antislavery" yet unflinchingly committed to defending proslavery laws; defender of the common man but troubled by the excesses of democracy; devoted to the idea of equal natural rights yet unable to imagine a harmonoius, interracial democracy. Considering Lincoln as he attempted to work out the meaning and coherence of the liberal democratic project in practice, these authors craft a profile of the 16th president's political thought from a variety of perspectives and through multiple lenses. Together their essays create the first fully-dimensional portrait of Abraham Lincoln as a political actor, expressing, addressing, and reframing the perennial questions of liberal democracy for his time and our own.