Review of The Rhetoricity of Philosophy: Audience in Perelman and Ricoeur After the Badiou-Cassin Debate

Abstract

In this well-written and superbly researched book, Blake D. Scott uses the “debate” between Alain Badiou and Barbara Cassin as a point of departure to revisit the longstanding tension between philosophy and rhetoric. Through substantial exegeses of the work of Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts‑Tyteca, as well as selected writings by Paul Ricœur, Scott rejects the conventional view that philosophy and rhetoric are separate disciplines. He argues instead for their asymmetrical interdependence: rhetoric is constitutive of philosophical practice. Central to his thesis is the concept of rhetoricity—the rhetorical dimension inherent in all discourse by virtue of the human “rhetorical capacity,” our ability to reflect on audiences and the potential for persuasion.