This book introduces a new form of argumentative analysis: rhetorical heuremes. The method applies the concepts of heuristic thinking, probability, and contingency in order to develop a better understanding of complex arguments in classical oratory. A new theory is required because Greek and Roman rhetoric cannot provide detailed answers to problems of strategic argumentation in the analysis of speeches. Building on scholarship in Ciceronian oratory, this book moves beyond the extant terminology and employs a concept of heuristic reasoning derived from the psychology of decision making and mathematical problem solving. The author analyses selected passages from Cicero’s forensic speeches where arguments of probability are deployed, and shows that the Sophistic concept of probability can link ancient rhetoric and modern theories of argumentation. Six groups of heuremes are identified, each of which represents a form of probabilistic reasoning by which the orator plays upon the perception of the jurors.

This book introduces a new form of argumentative analysis: rhetorical heuremes. The method applies the concepts of heuristic thinking, probability, and contingency in order to develop a better understanding of complex arguments in classical oratory. A new theory is required because Greek and Roman rhetoric cannot provide detailed answers to problems of strategic argumentation in the analysis of speeches. Building on scholarship in Ciceronian oratory, this book moves beyond the extant terminology and employs a concept of heuristic reasoning derived from the psychology of decision making and mathematical problem solving. The author analyses selected passages from Cicero’s forensic speeches where arguments of probability are deployed, and shows that the Sophistic concept of probability can link ancient rhetoric and modern theories of argumentation. Six groups of heuremes are identified, each of which represents a form of probabilistic reasoning by which the orator plays upon the perception of the jurors.

This book introduces a novel approach to the analysis and practice of persuasive speaking and writing: heuristic rhetoric. The new method has evolved to fulfil the need at universities, government departments, political organisations, business enterprises and other public institutions for a modern practical alternative to classical rhetoric, which is, in the author’s view, no longer capable of giving a complete description of contemporary, predominantly mediatised, forms of public persuasive discourse, whilst other competing disciplines, such as critical discourse analysis or strategic manoeuvring, have not yet produced a set of tools, which have the comprehensive nature and practical orientation of Classical Greek and Roman rhetorical system. The book expounds heuristic rhetoric as an inter-disciplinary method to develop advanced skills of critical and strategic reasoning. Applying a novel set of principles for the strategic analysis of persuasive reasoning in complex rhetorical situations, the method emphasizes preparing and continuously adjusting argumentation according to the demands of unpredictable circumstances.

Cicero composed his incendiary Philippics only a few months after Rome was rocked by the brutal assassination of Julius Caesar. In the tumultuous aftermath of Caesar’s death, Cicero and Mark Antony found themselves on opposing sides of an increasingly bitter and dangerous battle for control. Philippic 2 was a weapon in that war. Conceived as Cicero’s response to a verbal attack from Antony in the Senate, Philippic 2 is a rhetorical firework that ranges from abusive references to Antony’s supposedly sordid sex life to a sustained critique of what Cicero saw as Antony’s tyrannical ambitions. Vituperatively brilliant and politically committed, it is both a carefully crafted literary artefact and an explosive example of crisis rhetoric. It ultimately led to Cicero’s own gruesome death. This course book offers a portion of the original Latin text, vocabulary aids, study questions, and an extensive commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, Ingo Gildenhard’s volume will be of particular interest to students of Latin studying for A-Level or on undergraduate courses. It extends beyond detailed linguistic analysis to encourage critical engagement with Cicero, his oratory, the politics of late-republican Rome, and the transhistorical import of Cicero’s politics of verbal (and physical) violence.

Public speaking is a much coveted yet difficult art. This book illustrates the use of various linguistic devices and persuasive strategies with examples from the speeches of powerful orators in history. It systematically draws on the various approaches to public speaking and persuasive discourse to present new insights and techniques. The volume: Critically examines strategies of persuasive oratory. Draws on extensive investigation of a corpus of famous public speeches in history. Focuses on the needs of those who want to brush up their public speaking skills. The volume will be a key reference for aspiring civil servants, lawyers, business and corporate professionals, and politicians. It will be of great interest to scholars of linguistics, and political and business communication.

By using the fresh investigative language of cognitive history, a symbiosis of the methods of cognitive science and historical inquiry, this book departs from almost all previous approaches to Renaissance studies. The Renaissance has attracted the attention of distinguished scholars from many different vantage points – political, social, economic, intellectual, and cultural. In this volume, Subrata Dasgupta sheds an alternative light on the Renaissance by considering it as a creative phenomenon. To be creative is to make history by producing material and/or abstract artifacts that are both new and consequential; to be creative also entails drawing on history and on the culture of the time. Most significantly, the creative process occurs in individual minds: it is a cognitive process of a very special kind. Beginning with a ‘prehistory’ set in classical Greece and medieval Islam, this book explores a variety of inventions and discoveries through the 14th–16th centuries, mainly in Italy, in humanities, painting, architecture, craft technology, anatomy, natural science, and engineering. This book will be of interest not only to Renaissance scholars but also to students interested in Renaissance history and the nature of the creative tradition.