Book Review| March 01 2013 Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason. By David Hirsch and Dan Van Haften. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2010; pp. xxiv + 439. $34.95 cloth. David Zarefsky David Zarefsky Northwestern University Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Rhetoric and Public Affairs (2013) 16 (1): 194–198. https://doi.org/10.14321/rhetpublaffa.16.1.0194 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation David Zarefsky; Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason. Rhetoric and Public Affairs 1 March 2013; 16 (1): 194–198. doi: https://doi.org/10.14321/rhetpublaffa.16.1.0194 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveMichigan State University PressRhetoric and Public Affairs Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2013 Michigan State University Board of Trustees2013 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

AbstractLincoln's First Inaugural Address was not designed to coax the seceded states back into the Union, because he never conceded that they had left. Rather, he sought to define the situation so that, if war broke out, the seceders would be cast as the aggressors and the federal government as acting in self-defense. To this end, he presented a principled case against the legitimacy or even possibility of secession while applying the arguments to the exigence at hand. He identifies the cause of the trouble as “unwarranted apprehension” among the southern states, announces his policy as a minimalist assertion of national sovereignty, and urges that disaffected southerners not act in haste to threaten that sovereignty further. Not only does he explicitly call for slowing down the push to war but the speech itself enacts a slowing of time. In sum, the First Inaugural illustrates both Lincoln's philosophical grounding and his rhetorical dexterity.

Abstract In the House Divided Speech, Lincoln warned that the country was tending toward nationwide slavery because of the work of a conspiracy in which Stephen Douglas was involved. A close reading of the speech text reveals how Lincoln sought to establish this seemingly outlandish claim and how doing so responded to the volatile nature of Illinois politics in 1858. The speech placed Lincoln in a position that enabled him to begin his rise to national prominence.

Abstract This working group asked, “What should be the institutional and social goals for academic rhetoric, both within and beyond the academy?” The question takes significance from rhetoric's peculiar position as both sub‐discipline and inter‐discipline, as a subject in its own right and a perspective adopted by scholars in many fields, as a practice both valorized and marginalized. The essay reviews this position, describes the work group process, and summarizes recommendations for “staying on message,” disciplinary infrastructure, promoting rhetoric within individual institutions, working across disciplinary lines, enhancing pedagogy, pre‐collegiate education, and the public face of rhetoric.