Classical Rhetoric and Contemporary Law

A Critical Reader

Elizabeth C Britt author Michael Gagarin author David A Frank author Vasileios Adamidis author Kristen K Tiscione editor Francis J Mootz editor Kirsten K Davis editor Brian N Larson editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:The University of Alabama Press

Published:30th Apr '24

Should be back in stock very soon

Classical Rhetoric and Contemporary Law cover

Pairs passages from works of classical rhetoric with contemporary legal rulings to highlight and analyze their deep and abiding connections in matters of persuasion

Classical Rhetoric and Contemporary Law: A Critical Reader is a rich work that analyzes the interplay between ancient rhetorical traditions and modern legal practice, reestablishing the lost connections between law and classical rhetoric. From Isocrates’s Panegyricus in 380 BCE to the landmark US Supreme Court case Trump v. Hawaii in 2018, and from Antiphon’s fifth century BCE First Tetralogy to 1995’s O. J. Simpson trial, the volume draws on an array of sources to illuminate how ancient rhetorical insights may even today challenge and enrich our grasp of contemporary legal principles.


The collection opens with a brisk review of the historical development of rhetoric. The second part examines a pair of rhetorical theorists whose works frame the period across which classical rhetoric declined as a mode of thought. A contemporary appellate case contrasts with the work of Giambattista Vico, an eighteenth-century professor of rhetoric who warned of the separation of law from rhetoric. The analysis of the work of twentieth-century scholars ChaÏm Perelman and Lucie Olbrects-Tyteca shows that where Cartesian rationality fails, the humanistic tradition of rhetoric allows the law to respond to the needs of justice. In the third part, ten case studies bring together a classical rhetorical theorist with a contemporary court case, demonstrating the abiding relevance of the classical tradition to contemporary jurisprudence.

With its cross-disciplinary appeal, Classical Rhetoric and Contemporary Law encompasses the work of legal, rhetorical, English, and communication scholars alike, catalyzing interactive exploration into the profound ways ancient rhetorical insights continue to shape our comprehension of today’s legal landscape.

CONTRIBUTORS
Vasileios Adamidis / Elizabeth C. Britt / Kirsten K. Davis / David A. Frank / Michael Gagarin / Eugene Garver / Mark A. Hannah / Catherine L. Langford / Brian N. Larson / Craig A. Meyer / Francis J. Mootz III / Susan E. Provenzano / Nick J. Sciullo / Kristen K. Tiscione / Laura A. Webb



 

 

Classical Rhetoric and Contemporary Law: A Critical Reader is a superb book. It sets a new standard of analysis in the increasingly important nexus of rhetoric and law and does so in ways no other volume has.” —Sean Patrick author of On Fire: Five Civil Rights Sit-Ins and the Rhetoric of Protest

ISBN: 9780817361396

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 272g

304 pages