Words on Fire
eBook - PDF

Words on Fire

Eloquence and Its Conditions

  1. 236 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Words on Fire

Eloquence and Its Conditions

About this book

Why is political rhetoric broken – and how can it be fixed? Words on Fire returns to the origins of rhetoric to recover the central place of eloquence in political thought. Eloquence, for the orators of classical antiquity, emerged from rhetorical relationships that exposed both speaker and audience to risk. Through close readings of Cicero – and his predecessors, rivals, and successors – political theorist and former speechwriter Rob Goodman tracks the development of this ideal, in which speech is both spontaneous and stylized, and in which the pursuit of eloquence mitigates political inequalities. He goes on to trace the fierce disputes over Ciceronian speech in the modern world through the work of such figures as Burke, Macaulay, Tocqueville, and Schmitt, explaining how rhetorical risk-sharing has broken down. Words on Fire offers a powerful critique of today's political language – and shows how the struggle over the meaning of eloquence has shaped our world.

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Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half-title
  3. Title page
  4. Copyright information
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. Contents
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. Introduction: ''Just Words''
  10. PART I Eloquence and the Ancients
  11. PART II Eloquence and the Moderns
  12. Conclusion: On Not Listening
  13. Bibliography
  14. Index

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Yes, you can access Words on Fire by Rob Goodman in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Political History & Theory. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.