Political Rhetoric in Theory and Practice

Robert C. Bartlett is the Behrakis Professor in Hellenic Political Studies at Boston College. He is the author or editor of ten books, including Sophistry and Political Philosophy: Protagoras' Challenge to Socrates (2016) and Against Demagogues: What Aristophanes Can Teach Us about the Perils of Populism and the Fate of Democracy (2020), and is the translator of a new edition of Aristotle's Art of Rhetoric (2019). Nasser Behnegar is the director of Graduate Studies in the department of political science at Boston College. He is the author of Leo Strauss, Max Weber, and the Scientific Study of Politics (2003) as well as studies of the political thought of John Locke, Shakespeare, and Carl Schmitt.

• Part One: What is Rhetoric?; I. Classical foundations; II. The three kinds of rhetoric according to Aristotle; III. The modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, logos; IV. Rhetoric and diction; Part Two: Political Rhetoric in Practice; I. Civil rights and race in the United States; II. The women's movement; III. Rhetoric in times of crisis and doubt; IV. War and conflict; V. Tyrannies left and right.

'Given that we live in an age of extreme political polarization, in which political opponents rarely even attempt to persuade each other and succeed even less, I cannot think of a more valuable book than this one, which clarifies the nature and importance of rhetoric; gives classic examples of effective, ennobling, but also dangerous rhetoric; and thereby helps us reflect with proper precision and penetration on the long neglected art of persuasion.' Peter J. Ahrensdorf, James B. Duke Professor of Political Science, Davidson College