Advances in the History of Rhetoric Sep 2016

In Tradition of Speaking Fearlessly: Locating a Rhetoric of Whistleblowing in the <i>Parrhēsiastic</i> Dialectic

Alan Chu

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay examines how the dialectic over the presence of rhetoric in Michel Foucault’s catalog of truth telling in ancient Greek and Roman texts informs a separate but similar dialectic over the relationship between parrhēsia and contemporary whistleblowing. I posit that the argumentation justifying the practice of government and military whistleblowing used by Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning parallels the dispute over rhetoric’s place in parrhēsia. This essay plots out how the arguments for or against the presence of rhetoric in parrhēsia routinely manifests at specific junctures in the whistleblowing timeline, indicating how the dialectic of parrhēsia naturally leads to a rhetoric of whistleblowing.

Journal
Advances in the History of Rhetoric
Published
2016-09-01
DOI
10.1080/15362426.2016.1232206
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Topics
multilingual writers argument

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (1)

  1. Beard et al. (2002)
    Reviews
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Also cites 6 works outside this index ↓
  1. Ahl (1984)
    The Art of Safe Criticism in Greece and Rome
    The American Journal of Philology  ↗
  2. Colclough (1999)
    Parrhesia: The Rhetoric of Free Speech in Early Modern England
    Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric  ↗
  3. Davis (2012)
    Rewarding Whistleblowers: A Conceptual Problem?
    International Journal of Applied Philosophy  ↗
  4. Foucault (2010)
    The Courage of Truth (The Government of Self and Others II)
     ↗
  5. Foucault (2005)
    The Hermeneutics of the Subject
     ↗
  6. Levy, Carlos. “Politics to Philosophy to Theology: Some Remarks about Foucault’s Interpretation of…
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 3 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Philosophy & Rhetoric Oct 2025
    Dialectic, Dialogue, and Difference ↗
    Christopher W. Tindale
    multilingual writers argument
  2. Communication Design Quarterly Sep 2025
    Review of "Environmental Preservation and the Grey Cliffs Conflict: Negotiating Common Narratives, Values, and Ethos by Kristin D. Pickering," Pickering, K. D. (2024). <i>Environmental preservation and the grey cliffs Conflict: Negotiating common narratives, values, and ethos.</i> Utah State University Press. ↗
    Phillip Lovas
    qualitative research multilingual writers argument affect and writing
  3. Communication Design Quarterly Sep 2025
    Gratitude, Care, and Resilience: An Introductory Editorial ↗
    Timothy R. Amidon
    multimodality technical communication professional writing multilingual writers argument
  4. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Apr 2025
    Gendered Persuasive Language in Business Negotiations: A Case Study of Shark Tank US ↗
    Nguyen Thi Hoang Bau; Thai Le Thuy Trang
    rhetorical theory composition theory qualitative research multimodality multilingual writers argument
  5. Rhetoric Society Quarterly Mar 2025
    Epideictic Listening: From a Reflective Case Study to a Theory of Community Ethos ↗
    Sarah Hart Micke; Angela Sowa; Lisl Davies; Emily Graboski; Maya Piñón
    rhetorical theory qualitative research multilingual writers argument