Abstract

Historians of rhetoric have largely neglected eighteenth-century Language Origins Theory (LOT). Yet, as a theory that interconnects language, human nature, and human difference, LOT is an important and central inquiry to modern formations of rhetoric, particularly in how they engage with ethics of difference. Examining how the Scottish rhetorician and Enlightenment intellectual, Lord Monboddo, bases his rhetoric on an ethically problematic version of LOT, this article urges historians and students of rhetoric to be wary of the traces of LOT in canonical rhetorical histories as well as in contemporary theories and pedagogical practices.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2008-10-14
DOI
10.1080/02773940802167591
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (0)

No references match articles in this index.

Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1017/CBO9780511486647
  2. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199244843.003.0001
  3. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199244843.003.0007
  4. Norms of Rhetorical Culture
  5. 10.1017/CHOL9780521867429.009
  6. Sourcebook on Rhetoric: Key Concepts in Contemporary Rhetorical Studies
  7. The Formation of College English
  8. An Inquiry into the Human Mind: On the Principles of Common Sense
  9. A Social History of Truth: Civility and Science in Seventeenth-Century England
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network →