Rereading Aristotle's Rhetoric

In this collection edited by Alan G. Gross and Arthur E. Walzer, scholars in communication, rhetoric and composition, and philosophy seek to “reread” Aristotle’s Rhetoric from a purely rhetorical perspective. So important do these contributors find the Rhetoric, in fact, that a core tenet in this book is that “all subsequent rhetorical theory is but a series of responses to issues raised by the central work.”

The essays reflect on questions basic to rhetoric as a humanistic discipline. Some explore the ways in which the Rhetoric explicates the nature of the art of rhetoric, noting that on this issue, the tensions within the Rhetoric often provide a direct passageway into our own conflicts.

In this collection edited by Alan G. Gross and Arthur E. Walzer, scholars in communication, rhetoric and composition, and philosophy seek to “reread” Aristotle’s Rhetoric from a purely rhetorical perspective. So important do these contributors find the Rhetoric, in fact, that a core tenet in this book is that “all subsequent rhetorical theory is but a series of responses to issues raised by the central work.”

The essays reflect on questions basic to rhetoric as a humanistic discipline. Some explore the ways in which the Rhetoric explicates the nature of the art of rhetoric, noting that on this issue, the tensions within the Rhetoric often provide a direct passageway into our own conflicts.

Alan G. Gross is a professor of rhetoric at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. He is the author of The Rhetoric of Science and Starring the Text: The Place of Rhetoric in Science Studies.  He is co-editor of Rhetorical Hermeneutics: Invention and Interpretation in the Age of Science and The Scientific Literature: A Guided Tour.

Arthur E. Walzer is a professor in writing studies at the University of Minnesota.  He is the author of George Campbell: Rhetoric in the Age of Enlightenment and co-editor of The Viability of the Rhetorical Tradition.