Conversation: A History of a Declining ArtYale University Press, 1 d’oct. 2008 - 368 pàgines Essayist Stephen Miller pursues a lifelong interest in conversation by taking an historical and philosophical view of the subject. He chronicles the art of conversation in Western civilization from its beginnings in ancient Greece to its apex in eighteenth-century Britain to its current endangered state in America. As Harry G. Frankfurt brought wide attention to the art of bullshit in his recent bestselling On Bullshit, so Miller now brings the art of conversation into the light, revealing why good conversation matters and why it is in decline. Miller explores the conversation about conversation among such great writers as Cicero, Montaigne, Swift, Defoe, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and Virginia Woolf. He focuses on the world of British coffeehouses and clubs in “The Age of Conversation” and examines how this era ended. Turning his attention to the United States, the author traces a prolonged decline in the theory and practice of conversation from Benjamin Franklin through Hemingway to Dick Cheney. He cites our technology (iPods, cell phones, and video games) and our insistence on unguarded forthrightness as well as our fear of being judgmental as powerful forces that are likely to diminish the art of conversation. |
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Resultats 1 - 5 de 41.
Pàgina ix
... I noticed that many eighteenth - century writers wrote about the pleasures ( and pains ) of conversation . They include Jonathan Swift , Joseph Addison , Richard Steele , Daniel Defoe , the Earl of Shaftesbury , David Hume Preface.
... I noticed that many eighteenth - century writers wrote about the pleasures ( and pains ) of conversation . They include Jonathan Swift , Joseph Addison , Richard Steele , Daniel Defoe , the Earl of Shaftesbury , David Hume Preface.
Pàgina xi
... Addison and Johnson thought that if Britain's educated classes neglected the art of conversation , Britain could become em- broiled in violent civil discord . If many eighteenth - century Britons , especially during the first half of ...
... Addison and Johnson thought that if Britain's educated classes neglected the art of conversation , Britain could become em- broiled in violent civil discord . If many eighteenth - century Britons , especially during the first half of ...
Pàgina 25
... Addison tells the readers of the Spectator to amuse themselves " with such Writ- ings as tend to the wearing out [ the reduction ] of Ignorance , Passion , and Prejudice . " Passion undermines politeness , and therefore it is the enemy ...
... Addison tells the readers of the Spectator to amuse themselves " with such Writ- ings as tend to the wearing out [ the reduction ] of Ignorance , Passion , and Prejudice . " Passion undermines politeness , and therefore it is the enemy ...
Pàgina 28
... Addison , Hume , Swift , and Fielding would agree ) that " there is in this world no real de- light ( excepting those of sensuality ) , but exchange of ideas in conversation . " II Ancient Conversation : From the Book of Job to 28 ...
... Addison , Hume , Swift , and Fielding would agree ) that " there is in this world no real de- light ( excepting those of sensuality ) , but exchange of ideas in conversation . " II Ancient Conversation : From the Book of Job to 28 ...
Pàgina 45
... Addison men- tions him in the Spectator : " It was said of Socrates that he brought Philosophy down from Heaven , to inhabit among Men ; and I shall be ambitious to have it said of me , that I have brought Philosophy out of Closets and ...
... Addison men- tions him in the Spectator : " It was said of Socrates that he brought Philosophy down from Heaven , to inhabit among Men ; and I shall be ambitious to have it said of me , that I have brought Philosophy out of Closets and ...
Continguts
29 | |
EighteenthCentury Britain | 79 |
A Conversational Triumph Lady | 119 |
Raillery to Reverie | 150 |
From Benjamin | 194 |
From | 242 |
NINE The Ways We Dont Converse Now | 264 |
TEN The End of Conversation? | 291 |
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