Sweet Reason : Rhetoric and the Discourses of Modernity

Susan Wells

ISBN 10: 0226893367 / ISBN 13: 9780226893365

Published by The University Of Chicago Press Jul 1996, 1996

About this Item

Neuware - In 'Sweet Reason, ' Susan Wells presents a rhetorical model for understanding the diverse discourses of modernity. Wells describes modernity as a system of texts which we are only now learning to read. In order to comprehend how these texts organize our world, she argues, we must grasp how reason and desire interact to create meaning. To this end, Wells offers a rhetoric based on an understanding of meaning as intersubjectivity created through the work of language. Wells elaborates this 'rhetoric of intersubjectivity' by drawing on both Jurgen Habermas's concept of communicative rationality and on Jacques Lacan's theory of desire, affirming the significance of reason and desire for rhetorical studies. From scientific articles to classroom altercations, contemporary government hearings to Mantaigne's 'Essays, ' Wells organizes several using rhetoric as an art, and she shows how rhetoric operates in practice. Susan Wells is associate professor of English at Temple University.

Seller Inventory # 9780226893365

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Sweet Reason : Rhetoric and the Discourses of Modernity
• Publisher: The University Of Chicago Press Jul 1996
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226893367
• ISBN 13: 9780226893365
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 234W x 157H x 22D millimeters 234 millimeters width by 157 millimeters height by 22 millimeters depth
• Weight: 568 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In Sweet Reason, Susan Wells presents a rhetorical model for understanding the diverse discourses of modernity. Wells describes modernity as a system of texts which we are only now learning to read. In order to comprehend how these texts organize our world, she argues, we must grasp how reason and desire interact to create meaning. To this end, Wells offers a rhetoric based on an understanding of meaning as intersubjectivity created through the work of language. Wells elaborates this "rhetoric of intersubjectivity" by drawing on both Jürgen Habermas's concept of communicative rationality and on Jacques Lacan's theory of desire, affirming the significance of reason and desire for rhetorical studies. From scientific articles to classroom altercations, contemporary government hearings to Mantaigne's Essays, Wells organizes several using rhetoric as an art, and she shows how rhetoric operates in practice.

Susan Wells is associate professor of English at Temple University.

About the Author

Susan Wells is associate professor of English at Temple University.