The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs
The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs is an insightful account of the rhetorical and psychological habits we exhibit when we must explain the reasons others act. The assumption that we can know what motivates another person is fed by more hope than certainty, and yet it is evidence of a very human impulse. Beginning with a clear template for defining various tiers of motives-talk, this innovative and accessible study moves through a series of chapters exploring the unique demands imposed by different circumstances. These sections cut a wide swath of analysis across a diverse range of human actors including: conspiracy theorists who find the designs of coordinated agents behind random events, theater performers creating “backstories” for their characters, journalists grasping to name the motives of newsmakers, prosecutors who must establish another’s intent in order to prove a criminal act, and the devout who grapple with what divine intervention can mean in a cruel world. Readers will recognize themselves in these pages, gaining an appreciation for the rhetorical analysis of human behavior.
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The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs
The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs is an insightful account of the rhetorical and psychological habits we exhibit when we must explain the reasons others act. The assumption that we can know what motivates another person is fed by more hope than certainty, and yet it is evidence of a very human impulse. Beginning with a clear template for defining various tiers of motives-talk, this innovative and accessible study moves through a series of chapters exploring the unique demands imposed by different circumstances. These sections cut a wide swath of analysis across a diverse range of human actors including: conspiracy theorists who find the designs of coordinated agents behind random events, theater performers creating “backstories” for their characters, journalists grasping to name the motives of newsmakers, prosecutors who must establish another’s intent in order to prove a criminal act, and the devout who grapple with what divine intervention can mean in a cruel world. Readers will recognize themselves in these pages, gaining an appreciation for the rhetorical analysis of human behavior.
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The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs

The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs

by Gary C. Woodward
The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs

The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs

by Gary C. Woodward

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$57.99 
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Overview

The Rhetoric of Intention in Human Affairs is an insightful account of the rhetorical and psychological habits we exhibit when we must explain the reasons others act. The assumption that we can know what motivates another person is fed by more hope than certainty, and yet it is evidence of a very human impulse. Beginning with a clear template for defining various tiers of motives-talk, this innovative and accessible study moves through a series of chapters exploring the unique demands imposed by different circumstances. These sections cut a wide swath of analysis across a diverse range of human actors including: conspiracy theorists who find the designs of coordinated agents behind random events, theater performers creating “backstories” for their characters, journalists grasping to name the motives of newsmakers, prosecutors who must establish another’s intent in order to prove a criminal act, and the devout who grapple with what divine intervention can mean in a cruel world. Readers will recognize themselves in these pages, gaining an appreciation for the rhetorical analysis of human behavior.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781498516150
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date: 03/24/2015
Pages: 160
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Gary C. Woodward is a professor, rhetorician, and former chairperson of the Department of Communication Studies at The College of New Jersey.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: How We Know What We Can’t Chapter 2: Them: Conspiracies, Disasters and Presumed Culpability Chapter 3: Theater, Acting, and the Sources of Motivation Chapter 4: The Telepathic Journalist Chapter 5: Legal Benchmarks for Establishing Intent Chapter 6: God’s Plan: Agency, and the Quandary of Divine Intention
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