Phantastic, Impressive Rhetoric

Misti Yang Vanderbilt University

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article develops a theory of rhetorical impression through a critical genealogy of the term phantasia. The genealogy demonstrates cause for understanding phantasia as impression, not image. I trace phantasia as impression through the work of Plato and Aristotle but ultimately argue that the stoics offer the most productive leads for thinking through impressions, materiality, and sensations together. Specifically, I demonstrate how the stoics' concept of lekton can productively mediate the relationship between rhetoric, materiality, imagination, and idealism. In the closing section, I suggest how a theory of rhetorical impression can address lacunae in existing new materialist approaches.

Journal
Philosophy & Rhetoric
Published
2021-12-01
DOI
10.5325/philrhet.54.4.0374
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Philosophy & Rhetoric

Cites in this index (3)

  1. Philosophy & Rhetoric
  2. Philosophy & Rhetoric
  3. Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
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    Advances in the History of Rhetoric  
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    Rhetorica  
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    Journal of Consumer Psychology  
  6. “Aristotle’s Notion of ‘Bringing-Before-the-Eyes’: Its Contributions to Aristotelian and …
    Rhetorica  
  7. “Aristotle’s Phantasia in the Rhetoric: Lexis, Appearance, and the Epideictic Function of…
    Philosophy & Rhetoric  
  8. “Alter-Ontologies: Towards a Constituent Politics in Technoscience.”
    Social Studies of Science  
  9. “Technoliberal Rhetoric, Civic Attention, and Common Sensation in Sergey Brin’s ‘Why Goog…
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  
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