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. |
Des de l'interior del llibre
Resultats 1 - 5 de 61.
Pàgina xiv
... speaks of the need " to start a conversa- tion — among scholars , practitioners , and the general public— about the centrality and effectiveness of public discourse in American society . " I am more interested in the informal con ...
... speaks of the need " to start a conversa- tion — among scholars , practitioners , and the general public— about the centrality and effectiveness of public discourse in American society . " I am more interested in the informal con ...
Pàgina
... speaks ofthe benefits of what he calls “honest conversation,” by whichhe means conversation thatdoes not promoteimmoral conduct. “Itis scarcely possible to pass anhourin honest conversation,without being able whenwe risefrom it, to ...
... speaks ofthe benefits of what he calls “honest conversation,” by whichhe means conversation thatdoes not promoteimmoral conduct. “Itis scarcely possible to pass anhourin honest conversation,without being able whenwe risefrom it, to ...
Pàgina 7
... - flection [ that is , censure or reproof ] . " Those who take offense at innocent raillery are fools , but Swift acknowledges that not all raillery is innocent . " To speak in such Conversation and Its Discontents 7.
... - flection [ that is , censure or reproof ] . " Those who take offense at innocent raillery are fools , but Swift acknowledges that not all raillery is innocent . " To speak in such Conversation and Its Discontents 7.
Pàgina 8
... speak in such as manner as may possibly offend any reasonable person in company , is the high- est instance of ill manners . " Swift implies that it is easy to dis- tinguish between raillery that is innocent and raillery that is nasty ...
... speak in such as manner as may possibly offend any reasonable person in company , is the high- est instance of ill manners . " Swift implies that it is easy to dis- tinguish between raillery that is innocent and raillery that is nasty ...
Pàgina 21
... speaks of the benefits of what he calls " honest conversation , " by which he means conversation that does not promote immoral conduct . " It is scarcely possible to pass an hour in honest conversation , without being able when we rise ...
... speaks of the benefits of what he calls " honest conversation , " by which he means conversation that does not promote immoral conduct . " It is scarcely possible to pass an hour in honest conversation , without being able when we rise ...
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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According Addison admired agree American anger appeared argues asked attacked attended avoid became become Boswell Britain called century cities civil clubs Coffee coffeehouses common continually conversationalist conversible world critic culture describes dinner discussion easy effect eighteenth-century England English enjoyed essay feel Franklin friends give guests human Hume ideas implies important Instant Messaging interest Italy Johnson Lady Mary leading learned less letter listen live London look mainly manners means meet mind natural never one's opinion party passions person play pleasures poem polite popular praised questions raillery reason refers remark salon sation says seems sense social society Socrates solitude sounds speaks Spectator sublime suffering Swift talk thing thought tion told turn versation wants women Woolf writers wrote young