philohistorhetorica: Rather than a link . . . .

Welcome to philohistorhetorica

We are a group of young scholars in the history of rhetoric, engaged here in this blog in an ongoing discussion about the philosophies that underlie practices and theories of the history of rhetoric. Does the history of rhetoric have a philosophy of history? If so what is it? If not, does it need one?

Each of us began with statements that engage the work of the historian/rhetorician/philosopher who articulate some philosophy that seems to guide our individual approaches to the historical/rhetorical work. Subsequent posts and responses lay out our own understandings of the terms, questions, and stakes generated from those discussions, and future posts will continue this process. Our hope is that this continuing discussion will not only assess our own work but also begin to push that work in new directions, generating new terms, new frameworks, and new goals for what the history of rhetoric can do.

Please respond to these posts as you are moved. We hope to have as broad a discussion as possible. An important moment in this discussion will come in the unvirtual space of a session at RSA 2010 in Memphis, where we will come face to face with each other and with whatever ideas this blog has wrought. We hope you can join us both here and there!