Philosophy & Rhetoric Sep 2012

William James and the Impetus of Stoic Rhetoric

Scott R. Stroud The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

Abstract The relationship between William James and the stoics remains an enigma. He was clearly influenced by reading Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus throughout his career. Some work has been done on the thematic convergences between Jamesian pragmatism and stoic thought, but this study takes a different path. I argue that the rhetorical style that James uses in arguing for his moral claims in front of popular audiences can be better understood if we see it in light of the stoic style of argumentation. I look at a text James read closely and recommended to close acquaintances—Marcus Aurelius's Meditations—to extract a sense of stoic rhetorical style. James's use of the stoic's tactics of vivid examples and rhetorical questions to shape the rhetorical experience of his audience and to thereby make his points becomes understandable as a possible extension of the stoic style of persuasion.

Journal
Philosophy & Rhetoric
Published
2012-09-01
DOI
10.5325/philrhet.45.3.0246
Open Access
Closed
Topics
voice and style argument

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. Yang (2021)
    Phantastic, Impressive Rhetoric
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  2. Meehan (2016)
    Metonymies of Mind: Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, and the Rhetoric of Lib…
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  3. Stroud (2015)
    Pragmatism, Pluralism, and World Hypotheses:
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  4. Stob (2014)
    The Rhetoric of Individualism and the Creation of Community: A View from Willia…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Stroud (2013)
    Selling Democracy and the Rhetorical Habits of Synthetic Conflict: John Dewey a…
    Rhetoric & Public Affairs

Cites in this index (2)

  1. Stob (2011)
    Pragmatism, Experience, and William James's Politics of Blindness
    Philosophy & Rhetoric
  2. Kirkwood (1995)
    Revealing the mind of the sage: The narrative rhetoric of the<i>Chuang Tzu</i>
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Also cites 19 works outside this index ↓
  1. Atherton, Catherine. 1988. “Hand over Fist: The Failure of Stoic Rhetoric.” Classical Quarterly 38 (2): 392–427.
     ↗
  2. Comello, Maria Leonora G. 2009. “William James on ‘Possible Selves’: Implications for Studying Identity in Co…
     ↗
  3. Eden, Kathy. 1986. Poetic and Legal Fiction in the Aristotelian Tradition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Universit…
     ↗
  4. Garrison, George R., and Edward H. Madden. 1977. “William James—Warts and All.” American Quarterly 29 (2): 207–21.
     ↗
  5. James, William. 1956 [1897]. “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life.” In The Will to Believe and Other Ess…
     ↗
  6. James, William. 1987b [1902]. The Varieties of Religious Experience. In William James: Writings, 1902–1910, 3…
     ↗
  7. Kirkwood, William G. 1985. “Parables as Metaphors and Examples.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 71 (4): 422–40.
     ↗
  8. Kirkwood, William G. 1992. “Narrative and the Rhetoric of Possibility.” Communication Monographs 59 (1): 30–47.
     ↗
  9. Leff, Michael, and Andrew Sachs. 1990. “Words the Most Like Things: Iconicity and the Rhetorical Text.” Weste…
     ↗
  10. Otto, M. C. 1943. “On a Certain Blindness in William James.” Ethics 53 (3): 184–91.
     ↗
  11. Rosemont, Henry, Jr. 1970. “The Meaning Is the Use: Kōan and Mondō as Linguistic Tools of the Zen Masters.” P…
     ↗
  12. Russill, Chris. 2005. “The Road Not Taken: William James's Radical Empiricism and Communication Theory.” Comm…
     ↗
  13. Shusterman, Richard. 2008. Body Consciousness: A Philosophy of Mindfulness and Somaesthetics. New York: Cambr…
     ↗
  14. Shusterman, Richard. 2011. “The Pragmatist Aesthetics of William James.” British Journal of Aesthetics 51 (4)…
     ↗
  15. Staley, Gregory Allan. 2009. Seneca and the Idea of Tragedy. New York: Oxford University Press.
     ↗
  16. Stob, Paul. 2008. “‘Terministic Screens,’ Social Constructionism, and the Language of Experience: Kenneth Bur…
     ↗
  17. Stroud, Scott R. 2006a. “How to Do Things with Art.” Southern Journal of Philosophy 44 (2): 341–364.
     ↗
  18. Stroud, Scott R. 2006b. “Pragmatism and Orientation.” Journal of Speculative Philosophy 20 (4): 287–307.
     ↗
  19. Stroud, Scott R. 2009. “William James on Meliorism, Moral Ideals, and Business Ethics.” Transactions of the C…
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 22 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2025
    Rhetorics of Authenticity: Ethics, Ethos, and Artificial Intelligence ↗
    Adrianna Deptula; Paul Thompson Hunter; Richard Johnson-Sheehan
    multimodality artificial intelligence professional writing multilingual writers voice and style argument
  2. Poroi Dec 2024
    Ethos and expertise in the making of a celebrity (citizen) scientist ↗
    Nolan Speicher
    public rhetoric voice and style argument
  3. Written Communication Jul 2024
    Gateways and Anchor Points: The Use of Frames to Amplify Marginalized Voices in Disability Policy Deliberations ↗
    Sean Kamperman
    disability studies voice and style argument
  4. Poroi Jan 2022
    The Gendered Ethos of Pseudoscience: Feminized Discourse on Food Safety in the Blogosphere ↗
    Flemming Schneider Rhode; Tisha Dejmanee
    discourse analysis multimodality social media multilingual writers voice and style argument
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 2019
    Trans Students’ Right to Their Own Gender in Professional Communication Courses: A Textbook Analysis of Attire and Voice Standards in Oral Presentations ↗
    Fernando Sánchez
    professional writing gender and writing voice and style argument