A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric, 2nd Ed.

by James J. Murphy, Richard A. Katula, Michael Hoppmann

The purpose of history is to help people understand the present by providing a sense of continuity to their lives. The history of western civilization begins in Ancient Greece. So much of what we observe around us -- art, architecture, poetry, drama, and political systems -- is derived from the Greeks. Even religious beliefs and beliefs about the solar system emanate from the writings of Greek and Roman philosophers. Writing itself is a phenomenon of Greek civilization. Students seeking to understand the social impact of technologies such as writing, print, and television, must begin their study with figures such as Socrates, who was one of the first to be concerned with the changes in social interaction and consciousness wrought by the emergence of writing on portable material.

For students of language, an awareness of the classical world is particularly important. The study of human discourse is an entirely western phenomenon. As far as one can judge from surviving evidence, the Greeks were the only people of the ancient world who endeavored to analyze the ways in which human beings communicate with each other. Greece is, therefore, the birthplace of the art of discourse, which includes not only rhetoric, but also logic and grammar. Although many other ancient civilizations produced literature, only the Greeks produced analytic, expository treatises that attempted to discover the actual bases of human communication. Written treatises and school "systems" which allowed rhetorical discoveries to be transmitted to others enabled the Greeks and later the Romans to amass a considerable body of precepts to guide speakers and writers. This body of precepts forms the basis for the study of "rhetoric" -- the art of human discourse.

This book provides a clear understanding of the classical roots of rhetoric. While no single volume can account for every idea developed by the ancients on the art of rhetoric, this book seeks to present the concepts that will most effectively provide today's student with a basis for understanding human communication. The text contains essays about the period, original treatises by ancient writers with modern analyses that elaborate on their rhetorical precepts, and representative speeches given by celebrated orators of the ancient world. In addition, a bibliography of readings is presented for those who want to study this period more deeply.

Genres: Philosophy, History

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Dr. Murphy spent his career studying the history and pedagogy of language use, with scholarly work exploring rhetoricians from the Classical Period, the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, and on to modernity. His work extended to the pedagogy of teaching rhetoric, writing, and debate, including texts that have been published in numerous editions and multiple languages including Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Polish. Before settling at UC Davis in 1965, he taught at St. Mary’s College, Stanford, and Princeton. During his career, he published 75 journal articles and book chapters and edited numerous volumes.
Dr. James J. Murphy, (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1957), Professor Emeritus at UC Davis, passed away in 2021, at the age of 98. He remained alert and intellectually engaged until just a few days before his death. His final publication, The Oxford Handbook of Quintilian, which he co-edited, arrived exactly one week before he died.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Helpful in providing an overview of classical rhetoric, but, sadly, rather poorly written! Some chapters felt illogically arranged or overly pedantic (trying to summarize too much when a few extra excepts in the appendix would have been more useful), while others were simply full of grammar issues or otherwise hard to follow. Excerpts and speeches in the back are very helpful, though.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of our main texts for ENG 570, History of Composition-- "Tracing the Evolving Ecologies of Writing Theory." I had trouble keeping all the different classical rhetoricians straight...