Rhetoric, Reason and Society

This fascinating work examines some of the major arguments about modernity, culture and rationality that have emerged from recent debates on critical theory, liberal theory, the self, postmodernity, dialogic rationalism, ethics and argument.

What is the relationship between knowledge, expertise and participatory dialogue? How is the `good life' connected to rationality? In what way is thinking dialogical and rhetorical? This original and lucid text addresses these and other questions, offering a broad-ranging synthesis of diverse theories to show how reason, dialogue and communication are inextricably linked.

Myerson provides a sustained discussion of contemporary theories concerning models of rational dialogue and cultural difference. His analysis, starting with a deep reading of Habermas and Putnam, is enriched by illuminating treatments of key thinkers including: Giddens, Rawls, Billig, Nussbaum, Rorty, Haraway, Benhabib and Bookchin.