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Lysias's Ghost The logographer, in the strict sense, is a ghost writer who composes speeches for ... more Lysias's Ghost The logographer, in the strict sense, is a ghost writer who composes speeches for use by litigants, speeches which he himself does not pronounce, which he does not attend, so to speak, in person, and which produce their effects in his absence. In writing what he does not speak, what he would never say and, in truth, would probably never even think, the author of the written speech is already entrenched in the posture of the sophist: the man of non-presence and non-truth.-JACQUES D ERRIDA, DISSEMINATION, 68 He was the best of all the orators at observing human nature and ascribing to each type of person the appropriate emotions, moral qualities, and actions. I also ascribe to Lysias that most pleasing quality which is generally called characterization. I am quite unable to find a single person in this orator's speeches who is devoid of character or vitality.-DIONYSIUS OF H ALICARNASSUS, THE C RITICAL E SSAYS V OL. 1, 7-8 f the thirty-four extant speeches written by the famed logographer Lysias, only one was composed in the voice of the author himself. And while no one knows for sure if Lysias ever stood before an Athenian jury to make his case, this single speech provides a vivid portrait of a man who once enjoyed great wealth and privilege only to lose his fortune, his family-indeed, his very identity-to the Thirty Tyrants. In Against Eratosthenes (Lys. 12), Lysias makes a case against the eponymous member of the Thirty for murdering his brother Polemarchus as part of a conspiracy to rid the city of democratic-leaning metics and to confiscate their riches in the process. He tells us, in fact, that the politics were merely a ruse and that the metics' money was always the plot's primary target. Lysias probably wrote the speech to contest Eratosthenes's appeal for amnesty following the restoration of democracy in 403/402, and it is also likely that he later circulated it as a pamphlet, either to publicly register his grievances with Eratosthenes or to advertise his skills as a logographer (Bakewell 5, Usher "Lysias" 37). Whether primarily juridical, hortatory, or promotional, Against Eratosthenes seeks justice for the slain Polemarchus and argues that the erstwhile oligarch should pay for his crimes despite the potential for amnesty. Given its vivid depictions of kidnapping, daring 1 O 2 3
The Ethics of Persuasion : Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies, 2020
For [some critics], the word deconstruction is simply a negative project which undermines everyth... more For [some critics], the word deconstruction is simply a negative project which undermines everything and does not leave anything in place; and we have to reject this. I have [. . .] insisted on the contrary and on the fact that deconstruction is mainly affirmation, affirmation. [. . .] Affirmation does not mean reconstruction, it does not mean position, something positive; it means constant reference to a yes. Yes, I speak to you, I address you, I listen to you. [. . .] I am a little wary of the word ethics [. . .]. Nevertheless, if you call this an ethics of affirmation, it implies that you are attentive to otherness, to the alterity of the other, to something new and other. -JACQUES D ERRIDA, "' TALKING L IBERTIES': INTERVIEW WITH A LAN M ONTEFIORE," 180 I
The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies, 2020
The Ethics of Persuasion challenges the traditional thinking that rhetoric is primarily a utilita... more The Ethics of Persuasion challenges the traditional thinking that rhetoric is primarily a utilitarian art built on force and adorned with linguistic ornamentation. The book brings the thought of philosopher Jacques Derrida to a handful of foundational texts in the classical rhetorical tradition to demonstrate the surprising ethical priority of a discipline known for its focus on persuasion. And along the way, it demonstrates the significant rhetorical dimensions of deconstruction, reviving the case that Derrida has much to offer the field of rhetoric. Drawing on Derrida’s (non)definition of ethics and his pointed accounts of performativity, The Ethics of Persuasion argues that ancient theories, practices, and pedagogies of persuasion have a vital ethical component that has been under-theorized for more than two millennia. Through deconstructive readings of some of the rhetorical tradition’s most esteemed texts on persuasion—highly determined pieces by Gorgias, Lysias, Isocrates, and Plato—the book suggests that an ethics emerges from even the most forceful instances of persuasion, showing us that we are not simply sovereign beings who by turns wield and guard against linguistic techniques of rule. Our persuasive endeavors, rather, are made possible by an ethics—an encounter with otherness that interrupts self-presence.
Papers by Brooke Rollins
The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies
Available for order online at Amazon and our website: ohiostatepress.org or call (800-621-2736).
The ethics of epideictic rhetoric: Addressing the problem of presence through Derrida's funeral orations
Rhetor Soc Q, 2005
I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each app... more I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.
Responding to the Sacred: An Inquiry into the Limits of Rhetoric, 2021
One of the most compelling-and idealized-narratives of the rhetorical tradition extols rhetoric a... more One of the most compelling-and idealized-narratives of the rhetorical tradition extols rhetoric as an alternative to violence. In this narrative, rhetoric holds a noble and privileged place: Argumentation and discourse can settle heated debates before situations devolve into bared fists, flashing knives, or deployed troops. Cicero's well-known version of this account holds that the highest articulation of humanist ideals are realized when persuasion-not force-is the instrument of political power. This classical opposition between rhetoric and force applies even to powerful systems of domination. An orator who successfully combines wisdom and eloquence can equalize asymmetrical power relations, making his voice heard despite the oppressive regime that wishes to silence it. For all of these reasons, according to this narrative, rhetoric possesses a high moral purpose because it can both prevent bloodshed and resist domination.
I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each app... more I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.
(E)merging Identities: Graduate Students in the Writing Center
Book Reviews by Brooke Rollins
Lysias's Ghost The logographer, in the strict sense, is a ghost writer who composes speeches for ... more Lysias's Ghost The logographer, in the strict sense, is a ghost writer who composes speeches for use by litigants, speeches which he himself does not pronounce, which he does not attend, so to speak, in person, and which produce their effects in his absence. In writing what he does not speak, what he would never say and, in truth, would probably never even think, the author of the written speech is already entrenched in the posture of the sophist: the man of non-presence and non-truth.-JACQUES D ERRIDA, DISSEMINATION, 68 He was the best of all the orators at observing human nature and ascribing to each type of person the appropriate emotions, moral qualities, and actions. I also ascribe to Lysias that most pleasing quality which is generally called characterization. I am quite unable to find a single person in this orator's speeches who is devoid of character or vitality.-DIONYSIUS OF H ALICARNASSUS, THE C RITICAL E SSAYS V OL. 1, 7-8 f the thirty-four extant speeches written by the famed logographer Lysias, only one was composed in the voice of the author himself. And while no one knows for sure if Lysias ever stood before an Athenian jury to make his case, this single speech provides a vivid portrait of a man who once enjoyed great wealth and privilege only to lose his fortune, his family-indeed, his very identity-to the Thirty Tyrants. In Against Eratosthenes (Lys. 12), Lysias makes a case against the eponymous member of the Thirty for murdering his brother Polemarchus as part of a conspiracy to rid the city of democratic-leaning metics and to confiscate their riches in the process. He tells us, in fact, that the politics were merely a ruse and that the metics' money was always the plot's primary target. Lysias probably wrote the speech to contest Eratosthenes's appeal for amnesty following the restoration of democracy in 403/402, and it is also likely that he later circulated it as a pamphlet, either to publicly register his grievances with Eratosthenes or to advertise his skills as a logographer (Bakewell 5, Usher "Lysias" 37). Whether primarily juridical, hortatory, or promotional, Against Eratosthenes seeks justice for the slain Polemarchus and argues that the erstwhile oligarch should pay for his crimes despite the potential for amnesty. Given its vivid depictions of kidnapping, daring 1 O 2 3
The Ethics of Persuasion : Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies, 2020
For [some critics], the word deconstruction is simply a negative project which undermines everyth... more For [some critics], the word deconstruction is simply a negative project which undermines everything and does not leave anything in place; and we have to reject this. I have [. . .] insisted on the contrary and on the fact that deconstruction is mainly affirmation, affirmation. [. . .] Affirmation does not mean reconstruction, it does not mean position, something positive; it means constant reference to a yes. Yes, I speak to you, I address you, I listen to you. [. . .] I am a little wary of the word ethics [. . .]. Nevertheless, if you call this an ethics of affirmation, it implies that you are attentive to otherness, to the alterity of the other, to something new and other. -JACQUES D ERRIDA, "' TALKING L IBERTIES': INTERVIEW WITH A LAN M ONTEFIORE," 180 I
The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies, 2020
The Ethics of Persuasion challenges the traditional thinking that rhetoric is primarily a utilita... more The Ethics of Persuasion challenges the traditional thinking that rhetoric is primarily a utilitarian art built on force and adorned with linguistic ornamentation. The book brings the thought of philosopher Jacques Derrida to a handful of foundational texts in the classical rhetorical tradition to demonstrate the surprising ethical priority of a discipline known for its focus on persuasion. And along the way, it demonstrates the significant rhetorical dimensions of deconstruction, reviving the case that Derrida has much to offer the field of rhetoric. Drawing on Derrida’s (non)definition of ethics and his pointed accounts of performativity, The Ethics of Persuasion argues that ancient theories, practices, and pedagogies of persuasion have a vital ethical component that has been under-theorized for more than two millennia. Through deconstructive readings of some of the rhetorical tradition’s most esteemed texts on persuasion—highly determined pieces by Gorgias, Lysias, Isocrates, and Plato—the book suggests that an ethics emerges from even the most forceful instances of persuasion, showing us that we are not simply sovereign beings who by turns wield and guard against linguistic techniques of rule. Our persuasive endeavors, rather, are made possible by an ethics—an encounter with otherness that interrupts self-presence.
The Ethics of Persuasion: Derrida's Rhetorical Legacies
Available for order online at Amazon and our website: ohiostatepress.org or call (800-621-2736).
The ethics of epideictic rhetoric: Addressing the problem of presence through Derrida's funeral orations
Rhetor Soc Q, 2005
I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each app... more I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.
Responding to the Sacred: An Inquiry into the Limits of Rhetoric, 2021
One of the most compelling-and idealized-narratives of the rhetorical tradition extols rhetoric a... more One of the most compelling-and idealized-narratives of the rhetorical tradition extols rhetoric as an alternative to violence. In this narrative, rhetoric holds a noble and privileged place: Argumentation and discourse can settle heated debates before situations devolve into bared fists, flashing knives, or deployed troops. Cicero's well-known version of this account holds that the highest articulation of humanist ideals are realized when persuasion-not force-is the instrument of political power. This classical opposition between rhetoric and force applies even to powerful systems of domination. An orator who successfully combines wisdom and eloquence can equalize asymmetrical power relations, making his voice heard despite the oppressive regime that wishes to silence it. For all of these reasons, according to this narrative, rhetoric possesses a high moral purpose because it can both prevent bloodshed and resist domination.
I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each app... more I identify three modern approaches used to theorize epideictic rhetoric and suggest that each approach has difficulty dealing with the category of presence assigned to the genre by Aristotle. Drawing on Thucydides and, through him, Pericles' funeral oration, I suggest that Jacques Derrida's funeral speeches provide a way of rethinking the epideictic genre's presence as rhetorical ethics. More specifically, I argue that the function of presence in epideictic rhetoric is to provide an ethical interruption, and that Derrida, as one of our most accomplished funeral orators, helps us clarify the category of presence as it is described in Aristotle's and Thucydides' discussions of epideictic oratory.
(E)merging Identities: Graduate Students in the Writing Center