Thomas Lessl: Science and Rhetoric
Interviewed by Paul Newall
http://www.galilean-library.org/lessl.html
Thomas Lessl is Associate Professor in the Department of Speech
Communication at the University of Georgia. His work involves the rhetoric
of science, looking in particular at the meeting of science with the public
sphere. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask him some general questions
about rhetoric as well as focusing on its role in scientific debate.
“… the scientific culture of [the nineteenth century] was committed to
evolutionism long before any scientific theory of development appeared”
PN: How would you define rhetoric and why should we study it?
TL: Most simply I would define rhetoric as the art of public communication.
Anyone who engages in public communication is practicing the art of
rhetoric. Art can also mean a body of principles pertaining to its
practices, and this is true of rhetoric as well. Read More ›