The Ethical Fantasy of Rhetorical Theory
Published on 10. July 2018
377 pages
978-0-8229-8342-2 (ISBN)
Description
Despite its centrality to its field, there is no consensus regarding what rhetorical theory is and why it matters. The Ethical Fantasy of Rhetorical Theory presents a critical examination of rhetorical theory throughout history, in order to develop a unifying vision for the field. Demonstrating that theorists have always been skeptical of, yet committed to "truth" (however fantastic), Ira Allen develops rigorous notions of truth and of a "troubled freedom" that spring from rhetoric's depths. In a sweeping analysis from the sophists Aristotle, and Cicero through Kenneth Burke, Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyceta, and contemporary scholars in English, communication, and rhetoric's other disciplinary homes, Allen offers a novel definition of rhetorical theory: as the self-consciously ethical study of how humans and other symbolic animals negotiate constraints.
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Ira Allen
The Ethical Fantasy of Rhetorical Theory
Book
08/2018
University of Pittsburgh Press
€58.50
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Person
Ira J. Allen is associate professor of English and of politics and international affairs at Northern Arizona University. He is the author of two books, including The Ethical Fantasy of Rhetorical Theory.
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction. Presentation and Rhetorical Theory
- 1. Fantasies of Rhetorical Theory
- 2. Approaching Rhetorical Theory's Truth
- 3. Three Points for Rhetorical Theory
- 4. Modern Rhetorical Theory, One and All
- 5. Modern Rhetorical Theory, Acting Symbolically
- 6. Ethically Approaching Troubled Freedom
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
