Introduction To Classical Legal Rhetoric

Lawyers, law students and their teachers all too frequently overlook the most comprehensive, adaptable and practical analysis of legal discourse ever devised: the classical art of rhetoric. Classical analysis of legal reasoning, methods and strategy is the foundation and source for most modern theories on the topic. Beginning with Aristotle's Rhetoric and culminating with Cicero's De Oratore and Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria, Greek and Roman rhetoricians created a clear, experience-based theoretical framework for analyzing legal discourse. This book is the first to systematically examine the connections between classical rhetoric and modern legal discourse. It traces the history of legal rhetoric from the classical period to the present day and shows how modern theorists have unknowingly benefited from the classical works. It also applies classical rhetorical principles to modern appellate briefs and judicial opinions to demonstrate how a greater familiarity with the classical sources can deepen our understanding of legal reasoning.

"From the twin birth of western rhetoric and law in the Greek-speaking world in the first millennium BCE, law and rhetoric were deeply connected in the ancient world. In the modern era of legal practice, the clear connections between law and classical rhetoric have largely been lost to both those trained in the law and those who study rhetoric. This interdisciplinary reader reestablishes those lost connections by pairing primary source materials in classical rhetoric and contemporary law. The chapters in this volume show that ancient rhetorical texts can deepen or disrupt contemporary notions about principles that lie at the root of western legal traditions and return to us our past, making it possible for scholars across several disciplines to build on work accomplished centuries before. Broken into four parts, this volume first covers the historical development of rhetoric. In Part Two, volume editor Mootz and scholar David A. Frank look at rhetorical theorists at "bookends" of an era when classical rhetoric was de-valued as a mode of thought. Mootz discusses the hegemonic wave of Enlightenment epistemology that separated law from rhetoric, and Frank shows that where Cartesian rationality fails in the modern era, the humanistic tradition of rhetoric allows law to respond to the needs of justice. Part Three consists of ten chapters that each (1) introduce a classical rhetorical theorist to the reader, (2) provide an excerpt from a text by that theorist, and then (3) demonstrate the relevance of that work to a contemporary court case. Moving from the Sophists, through Aristotle and Plato and their Greek contemporaries, to the Roman rhetoricians Cicero and Quintilian, and finally, to the early medieval rhetorician, St. Augustine, these reprinted classical texts are contextualized by leading scholars in law, classics, and rhetoric, each with probing discussion questions for readers to engage and interact with the materials rhetorically. This vital resource of primary texts demonstrates how rhetoric illuminates the operation of the legal system and reconnects law to its rhetorical roots. Structured for use by scholars in critical inquiry and well suited for use in graduate or law school courses, Classical Rhetoric and Contemporary Law will be of interest to law, rhetoric, English, and communication scholars, and as an interactive catalyst to examine the ways in which ancient rhetorical theory informs our understanding of law practice today"--

An anthology of primary texts in translation, An Introduction to Classical Rhetoric offers an overview of the social, cultural, and intellectual factors that influenced the development and growth of rhetoric during the classical period. Uses primary source material to analyze rhetoric from the Sophists through St. Augustine Provides an in-depth introduction to the period, as well as introductions to each author and each selection Includes study guides to help students develop multiple perspectives on the material, stimulate critical thinking, and provide starting points for dialogue Highlights include Gorgias's Palamedes, Antiphon's Truth, Isocrates' Helen, and Plato's Protagoras Each selection is followed by suggested writing topics and a short list of suggested additional readings.

Rhetoric is ubiquitous in modern discourse: from arguments delivered in the High Court, to advertisements disseminated in the high street. For the legal and political advocate, persuasion is also a professional technique that must be perfected properly to practise each art. In contrast with the classical era and the middle ages, in which grammar, rhetoric and dialectic were basic features of all education, modern curricula almost entirely neglect any theoretical study of the methods of rhetoric. Rediscovering Rhetoric re-introduces to modern practitioners and students a grasp of the speeches, writings and methodologies of the great classical scholars of rhetoric. Part 1 - Law and Language in the Greco-Roman Tradition provides a contextualised introduction to significant theorists of rhetoric in the classical period, and consists of four chapters written by practising barristers and a current Justice of the Federal Court of Australia. Part 2 - The Practice of Persuasion comprises essays by practitioners distinguished in their pursuit of legal persuasion - one former and two current Justices of the High Court of Australia - illuminating their experiences of argument from the perspective of both bench and bar. Part 3 - The Politics of Persuasion performs a similar function to Part 2, in the related domain of politics. It includes a chapter by Graham Freudenberg, former speechwriter for Gough Whitlam and others. Together the three parts provide a unique inter-disciplinary perspective on the theory and practice of legal and political persuasion. Published in association with the NSW Bar Association.

Originally published as La Rhétorique dans l'Antiquité (2000), this new English edition provides students with a valuable introduction to understanding the classical art of rhetoric and its place in ancient society and politics

Since its original publication by UNC Press in 1980, this book has provided thousands of students with a concise introduction and guide to the history of the classical tradition in rhetoric, the ancient but ever vital art of persuasion. Now, George Kennedy offers a thoroughly revised and updated edition of Classical Rhetoric and Its Christian and Secular Tradition. From its development in ancient Greece and Rome, through its continuation and adaptation in Europe and America through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, to its enduring significance in the twentieth century, he traces the theory and practice of classical rhetoric through history. At each stage of the way, he demonstrates how new societies modified classical rhetoric to fit their needs. For this edition, Kennedy has updated the text and the bibliography to incorporate new scholarship; added sections relating to women orators and rhetoricians throughout history; and enlarged the discussion of rhetoric in America, Germany, and Spain. He has also included more information about historical and intellectual contexts to assist the reader in understanding the tradition of classical rhetoric.

Rhetoric is among the most ancient academic disciplines, and we all use it every day whether expertly or not. This book is a lively set of lessons on the subject. It is about rhetorical figures: practical ways of applying old and powerful principles--repetition and variety, suspense and relief, concealment and surprise, the creation of expectations and then the satisfaction or frustration of them--to the composition of a simple sentence or a complete paragraph. --from publisher description.

A clear and integrated discussion of how classical rhetoric influences contemporary practices. Poulakos/Poulakos identify ten themes common to the sophistical, Isocratean, Platonic, and Aristotelian approaches to classical rhetoric, providing students with a clear framework for understanding the four approaches.

This detailed reference work provides a comprehensive and wide-ranging introduction to classical rhetoric as it was practised in the hellenistic period (330 B.C.-A.D.400). In three sections, it provides a thorough description and analysis of the standard categories of thought, terminology, and theoretical and historical developments of classical rhetoric, as well as providing useful bibliographies. The three sections of essays define the major categories of rhetoric, analyze rhetorical practice according to genre of writing, and treat individual writers in the rhetorical tradition. 27 international scholars from a wide range of backgrounds have contributed to this high-quality publication, which provides an state-of-the-art overview of the current research and will from the basis of future explorations. Students of the rhetoric of the New Testament, the hellenistic period, the classical period and the patristic era will all find this volume useful and insightful, as will those with general interests in these subjects. This publication has also been published in hardback (no longer available).