New P&R Issue | The Blogora

Submitted by Jim Brown on April 23, 2007 - 11:45am

According to my rss reader (I use Bloglines), the new issue of Philosophy and Rhetoric came out last week. I don't have a print subscription, so it might be that the rss feed is updated randomly and the issue might not necessarily be "new." Nonetheless, there is some interesting stuff in this issue.

The issue begins by republishing a lecture by Henry Johnstone, a lecture in which he provides a really interesting meditation on the relationship between philosophy and rhetoric. He explores this relationship through an interesting thought experiment that asks: Can a computer "communicate"? He also offers his definition of rhetoric:

"Rhetoric is the evocation and maintenance of the consciousness necessary for communication"

Some of my favorite conversations amongst rhetoricians involve competing definitions of the r-word. I'd love to hear what Blogora readers think of Johnstone's definition.

There's also what looks to be a really interesting article by Barbara Biesecker called "No Time for Mourning: The Rhetorical Production of the Melancholic Citizen-Subject in the War on Terror." I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I hope to get to it soon.

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Barb's Essay . . .

Submitted by slewfoot on April 23, 2007 - 7:55pm.

. . . is required reading, IMHO. She puts a language to what "the American subject" has been through in the past six years. Timely and important.

Unduly Limiting?

Submitted by the black guy on April 23, 2007 - 7:12pm.

Johnstone's stuff, which I found very exciting when I was introduced to rhetoric, was what convinced me that rhetoric rather than philosophy was what I wanted to study as an undergrad.

As for the definition, it seems to disallow much of what many in the field (both comp and speech) consider to have rhetorical potentials/effects.

DS - http://rhetoricboy.blogspot.com/