The Rhetoric of the Human Sciences: Language and Argument in Scholarship and Public Affairs (Rhetoric of Human Sciences)

By John S. Nelson

Book Overview

Opening with an overview of the renewal of interest in rhetoric for inquiries of all kinds, this volume addresses rhetoric in individual disciplines - mathematics, anthropology, psychology, economics, sociology, political science and history. Drawing from recent literary theory, it suggests the contribution of the humanities to the rhetoric of inquiry and explores communications beyond the academy, particulary in women's issues, religion and law. The final essays speak from the field of communication studies, where the study of rhetoric usually makes its home.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0299110206
• ISBN13: 9780299110208
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Welcome uncovering of "objective" social science rhetoric

A fine collection of essays, many of them written with an eye to persuasion, on how the various disciplines employ rhetorical devices to persuade while claiming an "objective" stance. Particularly useful are the essays by Renato Rosaldo on the rhetoric of anthropology, John Campbell on Darwin's sustained focus on persuasion, and William Boyd White on the rhetoric of the law. These three are worth the price of admission; the additional dozen or so essays are a bonus.