The Crisis of Rhetoric: Workshop 4 - Reasons and Reasoning

Rhetoric involves forms of reasoning suited to the fraught, confusing and uncertain contexts of public life. A challenge is to ensure that such reasoning is not too unreasonable or unresponsive to facts. This workshop will look at theories of reason associated with rhetoric and their relationship to appeals rooted in emotion and figurative expression.

Key questions will include:

• How can we understand the relationship between emotional and logical arguments in contemporary speech?
• Do politicians rely on certain kinds of logical and factual argument?
• Are arguments from emotion and values becoming more prominent?
• How can ‘good’ reasons be better promoted to the public?

Speakers: Rita Copeland (Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Classical Studies, English, and Comparative Literature, University of Pennsylvania, US); Christian Kock (Professor of Rhetoric, University of Copenhagen); Nick Turnbull (Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester).

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