Erudition And Eloquence

Miracles and Metaphors

Renaissance Debates on Rhetoric

Throughout the European Renaissance, authors famous and obscure debated the nature, goals, and value of rhetoric. In a host of treatises, handbooks, letters, and orations, written in both Latin and the vernacular, they attempted to assess the central role that rhetoric clearly played in their culture. Was rhetoric a valuable tool of legitimation for rulers or a dangerous instrument of resistance to political and religious authority? Would its employment maintain the social hierarchy or foster social mobility? Was rhetoric merely the art of lies or was it a means to arrive at the only form of truth available to human beings? In this fascinating volume, Wayne A. Rebhorn enables modern-day readers to follow Renaissance thinkers as they struggle with these and other crucial questions about rhetoric. Arranged chronologically, the twenty-five selections in this anthology, most of which have never before appeared in English, include key texts by Petrarch, Valla, Erasmus, Vives, Melanchthon, Ramus, Wilson, Amyot, and Bacon. All the selections have been fully annotated and have headnotes providing essential background information. In addition, the volume features a biographical glossary of frequently mentioned historical and mythological figures, a comprehensive index, and a detailed bibliography.

Tao Te Ching: a Guide to the Interpretation of the Foundational Book of Taoism

The Tao Te Ching is the foundational text of Taoism. Traditionally considered the work of the 'Old Master', Lao Tzu, a senior contemporary of Confucius, this 2500 years old text is a poetic and supremely concise formulation of some of humanity's highest wisdom. Revered as a basic book of spiritual guidance throughout Chinese history, it has become a beloved inspirational work in the West.The present work is meant to help the Western reader to penetrate the depth and subtlety of Lao Tzu's wisdom without requiring a knowledge of the Chinese language. Readers are offered a choice between various interpretations and are guided in non-technical terms to explore how they originate. More importantly, they are also offered the possibility to hold all the various resonances of the text simultaneously, just as a Chinese reader would, and thus access the original wealth of meaning in a way no ordinary translation could convey.