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Minds are rhetorical. From the moment we are born others are shaping our capacity for mental agency. As a meditation on the nature of human thought and action, this book starts with the proposition that human thinking is inherently and irreducibly social, and that the long rhetorical tradition in the West has been a neglected source for thinking about cognition. Each chapter reflects on a different dimension of human thought based on the fundamental proposition that our rhetoric thinks and acts with and through others.
“Rhetorical Minds is a most welcome monograph in that it covers a particularly broad and wide scope, while also going deep into core issues regarding what makes us human, how language evolved, and how human language and cognition need to be understood as inherently dialogic…[It] is very well written, with a clarity and wit that reveals a deep understanding of the matters at hand, making it both an informative and an unusually pleasant read. The book is made even more readable by its dialogic style and not too technical wording, with detailed explanations placed in notes at the end of each chapter. The many allusions to popular culture and politics make the book appealing to both scholars and general public.” • Discourse Studies
“I have no doubt that this fine, timely monograph will inform and delight professors and students, cognitive scientist, writers and language enthusiasts alike.” • Esther Pascual, Zheijang University
“The book has the potential to become a future “reference book” and trendsetting work for scholars of the cognitive sciences in both the States and the rest of the world.” • Anders Hougaard, University of Southern Denmark
Todd Oakley is Professor of and Chair of Cognitive Science and Professor of English at Case Western Reserve University. His recent publications include Issue 6 of Cognitive Semiotics which he co-edited with Ana Margarida Abrantes.
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction: (Homo Rhetoricus)
Part I: Theoretical Prerequisites
Chapter 1. Starting Points
Chapter 2. Homo Rhetoricus as a Creature of Presence
Chapter 3. Representation and the Semiotic Circuit
Part II: Evolution and Development of Homo Rhetoricus
Chapter 4. Becoming Human: The Evolution of Homo Rhetoricus
Chapter 5. Becoming Human: The Development of Homo Rhetoricus
Chapter 6. The Languaging of Homo Rhetoricus
Part III: Discourse and Social Ontology
Chapter 7. Language in the World of Homo Rhetoricus
Chapter 8. Institutions and Document Acts
Chapter 9. The Lifeworlds of Homo Rhetoricus
Chapter 10. Setting Up for ‘Setting Off’ Homo Rhetoricus
Concluding Remarks
References
Index