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The works of George Berkeley (1685-1753) have been the object of
much philosophical analysis; but philosophers are writers as well
as thinkers, and Berkeley was himself positively interested in the
functions of language and style. He recognized that words are used
not just to convey ideas, but to stir the emotions and influence
the behaviour of the hearer or reader. The Rhetoric of Berkeley's
Philosophy, the first book-length assessment of Berkeley as a
writer, offers rhetorical and literary analyses of his four major
philosophical texts, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human
Knowledge, Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous, Alciphron
and Siris. The Berkeley that emerges from this study is an
accomplished stylist, one who builds structures of affective
imagery, who creates dramatic voices in his texts, and who masters
the range of philosophical genres - the treatise, the dialogue, and
the essay. Above all, Berkeley's awareness of the rhetorical
functions of language is everywhere evident in his own style. His
texts persuade as well as prove, enacting a process of inquiry so
that the reader may, in the end grasp Berkeley's truths as his own.
The works of George Berkeley (1685-1753) have been the object of
much philosophical analysis; but philosophers are writers as well
as thinkers, and Berkeley was himself positively interested in the
functions of language and style. He recognized that words are used
not just to convey ideas, but to stir the emotions and influence
the behaviour of the hearer or reader. The Rhetoric of Berkeley's
Philosophy, first published in 1990, offers rhetorical and literary
analyses of his four major philosophical texts, A Treatise
Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Three Dialogues
between Hylas and Philonous, Alciphron and Siris. The Berkeley that
emerges from this study is an accomplished stylist, one who builds
structures of affective imagery, who creates dramatic voices in his
texts, and who masters the range of philosophical genres - the
treatise, the dialogue and the essay. Above all, Berkeley's
awareness of the rhetorical functions of language is everywhere
evident in his own style. His texts persuade as well as prove,
enacting a process of inquiry so that the reader may, in the end,
grasp Berkeley's truths as his own.
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