“The ultimate teacher of fact-based, reasoned rhetoric . . . A nice dose of American history makes learning the groundbreaking technique fun.” —Nerida F. Ellerton and McKenzie A. Clements, authors on writings of Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln Are you satisfied with the current state of public discourse? The almost unanimous response from people across the nation is a loud and emphatic “No!” The reply is always the same regardless of politics. Today’s public discourse typically starts with a “conclusion” and goes downhill from there. If there are talking heads, argument begins instantly and typically runs in circles. This is a dangerous path for a society that depends upon civility and virtue to survive. The Tyranny of Public Discourse addresses what is one of the most important issues of our time. This book can teach anyone how to use logic and reason to create persuasive writing. A byproduct of this is the civility that will ensue with an elevated public discourse. The Tyranny of Public Discourse establishes the six elements of a proposition as a verbal form of the scientific method—something Abraham Lincoln knew and used routinely. His logic and reason are so well known that he is quoted today more than 150 years after his death. Learning the six elements and how to use them to discuss any topic at any time is not only fascinating, but fairly easy to understand and implement. This book sets it all out, step-by-step and color coded, from beginning to end. The Tyranny of Public Discourse, complete with 21 diagrams on how to structure your logic, is the book you have been waiting for. The time is short, and the hour is now.

Are you satisfied with the current state of public discourse? The almost unanimous response from people across the nation is a loud and emphatic "No!"The reply is always the same regardless of politics. Today's public discourse typically starts with a "conclusion" and goes downhill from there. If there are talking heads, argument begins instantly and typically runs in circles. This is a dangerous path for a society that depends upon civility and virtue to survive. The Tyranny of Public Discourse: Abraham Lincoln's Six-Element Antidote for Meaningful and Persuasive Writing by scholars David Hirsch and Dan Van Haften addresses what is one of the most important issues of our time.This book can teach anyone how to use logic and reason to create persuasive writing. A byproduct of this is the civility that will ensue with an elevated public discourse. The Tyranny of Public Discourse establishes the six elements of a proposition as a verbal form of the scientific method--something Abraham Lincoln knew and used routinely. His logic and reason is so well known that it is quoted today more than 150 years after his death. Learning the six elements and how to use them to discuss any topic at any time is not only fascinating, but fairly easy to understand and implement. This book sets it all out, step-by-step and color coded, from beginning to end.The Tyranny of Public Discourse: Abraham Lincoln's Six-Element Antidote for Meaningful and Persuasive Writing, complete with 21 diagrams on how to structure your logic, is the book you have been waiting for. The time is short, and the hour is now.

Examines the effects of television culture on how we conduct our public affairs and how "entertainment values" corrupt the way we think.

This book diagnoses an unexamined cause of the incivility in our public discourse. Our most contentious controversies today are moral. We disagree not only about questions of efficiency and democracy and civil liberties but also about what is right to do and who we are becoming as a people. We have not yet understood the implications of this shift in public reasoning from discourse about political ideals to debates about moral imperatives. The book prescribes a way to educate ourselves and our young people how to disagree well. We are not able to engage in moral discourse effectively because our educational programs are still organized around obsolete principles of political neutrality. Meanwhile, our young people have learned to bend moral claims in service to self-authorship. Also, different groups of us look to different sources of moral truth. Further complicating our efforts, different generations use the same language to refer to different moral ideas. The book suggests principles for a practical education that is robustly moral, that will enable us to understand and overcome these new challenges. And it lays out a framework for flourishing together in society despite our radical differences.

The secrets of one of history’s greatest orators are revealed in “one of the most stunningly original works on Abraham Lincoln to appear in years” (John Stauffer, professor of English and history, Harvard University). For more than 150 years, historians have speculated about what made Abraham Lincoln truly great. How did Lincoln create his compelling arguments, his convincing oratory, and his unforgettable writing? Some point to Lincoln’s study of grammar, literature, and poetry. Others believe it was the deep national crisis that gave import to his words. Most agree that he honed his persuasive technique in his work as an Illinois attorney. Here, the authors argue that it was Lincoln’s in-depth study of geometry that made the president’s verbal structure so effective. In fact, as the authors demonstrate, Lincoln embedded the ancient structure of geometric proof into the Gettysburg Address, the Cooper Union speech, the first and second inaugurals, his legal practice, and much of his substantive post-1853 communication. Also included are Lincoln’s preparatory notes and drafts of some of his most famous speeches as well as his revisions and personal thoughts on public speaking and grammar. With in-depth research and provocative insight, Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason “offers a whole new angle on Lincoln’s brilliance” (James M. Cornelius, Curator, Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum).

A distinguished group of scholars and prominent figures here offers thoughtful new perspectives on the tenor and conduct of public life in contemporary America. Originating in a shared concern that our civic culture was becoming coarser and more polarized, Public Discourse in America provides a critical corrective to this widespread misperception about declining civility in public culture and the ways we as citizens negotiate our differences. Together these essays explore the current condition and centrality of public discourse in our democracy, investigating how it has changed through our history and whether it fails to approach our widely held, but often unarticulated, ideal of "reasoned and reasonable" public deliberation. Contributors consider whether rationality is really the best standard for public discussion and argument, and isolate the features and principles that would characterize a truly exemplary, more productive public discourse at the beginning of the twenty-first century. They investigate why public conversations work when they work well, and why they often fail when we need them the most, as in our nation's so often aborted "national conversation" on race. Taking a comprehensive look at institutional and leadership practices in recent public debates over a variety of "hot button" public policy issues, Public Discourse in America outlines how such conversations can be used to reintegrate our fragmented communities and bridge barriers of difference and hostility among communities and individuals. These essays speak to urgent and perennial questions about the nature of American society, the responsibilities of leaders, the rules of democracy, and the role of public culture in times of crisis, conflict, and rapid change. Public Discourse in America originated in the work of the Penn National Commission on Society, Culture, and Community, convened in 1996 by Judith Rodin, President of the University of Pennsylvania. Distinguished members of the Commission, leading experts, commissioned researchers, and leaders in America's nascent public discourse movement offer unexpected insights and an optimistic vision of the health of our politics and culture. Readers—of all political persuasions—from the halls of political power to the streets of urban neighborhoods, from newsrooms and studios to think tanks and universities, will find these essays opening up new paths to robust public discussion, more engaged citizenship, and stronger communities. Contributors include: Joyce Appleby, Thomas Bender, Derek Bok, Alex Boraine, Graham G. Dodds, Christopher Edley, Jr., Drew Gilpin Faust, Neal Gabler, Richard Lapchick, Don M. Randel, Richard Rodriguez, Jay Rosen, David M. Ryfe, Michael Schudson, Neil Smelser, and Robert H. Wiebe.

What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever. "It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals. “A brilliant, powerful, and important book. This is an indictment that Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.” –Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World