Herbert Spencer and the Rhetoricians
| Autor: | George B. Denton |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1919 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. 34:89-111 |
| ISSN: | 1938-1530 0030-8129 |
| DOI: | 10.2307/457093 |
| Popis: | Whenever Herbert Spencer mentioned the origin of his works, he always insisted upon the freedom of his thought from the influence of others. This claim, though attacked in the case of several of his writings, has remained unquestioned as regards The Philosophy of Style. Indeed, so unusual has this essay appeared to all readers that, with the recognition that it possesses much originality, has gone, apparently, the conviction that it was made by Spencer from whole cloth. Thus much Spencer himself did not claim; yet perhaps even Spencer-always a little blind to the influences upon his work-would not have recognized the extent of his indebtedness. The Philosophy of Style was published for the first time in 1Westminster Review, for October, 1852, as a review of Elements of Rhetoric by Richard Whately, Lefctures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres by Hugh Blair, :The Philosophy of Rhetoric by George Campbell, and Elements of Critic'ism by Lord Kaimes. From these, and from The English Language by Robert Gordon Latham, Spencer quoted infrequently; but he undertook no summary, criticism, or general estimate of them, or of any similar treatises, beyond complaining of the empirical and fragmentary character of " the maxims contained in works on composition and rhetoric." 1 Spencer's curt dismissal of past thinkers and the seeming novelty of his theory are no warrant that his borrowings of principles and precepts were inconsiderable. He may have been indebted to the works above mentioned to a |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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