Conversation: A History of a Declining ArtEssayist Stephen Miller pursues a lifelong interest in conversation by taking an historical and philosophical view of the subject. He chronicles the art of conversation in Western civilization from its beginnings in ancient Greece to its apex in eighteenth-century Britain to its current endangered state in America. As Harry G. Frankfurt brought wide attention to the art of bullshit in his recent bestselling On Bullshit, so Miller now brings the art of conversation into the light, revealing why good conversation matters and why it is in decline. Miller explores the conversation about conversation among such great writers as Cicero, Montaigne, Swift, Defoe, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and Virginia Woolf. He focuses on the world of British coffeehouses and clubs in “The Age of Conversation” and examines how this era ended. Turning his attention to the United States, the author traces a prolonged decline in the theory and practice of conversation from Benjamin Franklin through Hemingway to Dick Cheney. He cites our technology (iPods, cell phones, and video games) and our insistence on unguarded forthrightness as well as our fear of being judgmental as powerful forces that are likely to diminish the art of conversation. |
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Page 5
... common faults in conversation that are difficult to remedy : talking about one's own profession , which Swift calls pedantry , and " impatience to interrupt others , and the Uneasiness of being interrupted ourselves . " There are also ...
... common faults in conversation that are difficult to remedy : talking about one's own profession , which Swift calls pedantry , and " impatience to interrupt others , and the Uneasiness of being interrupted ourselves . " There are also ...
Page 16
... common Conversation , " and he praises a man who " can submit to discourse on the most trivial Matters .... He can talk of Fashions and Diversions among the Ladies ; nay , can even condescend to Horses and Dogs with Country Gentlemen ...
... common Conversation , " and he praises a man who " can submit to discourse on the most trivial Matters .... He can talk of Fashions and Diversions among the Ladies ; nay , can even condescend to Horses and Dogs with Country Gentlemen ...
Page 20
... common Life and Conversation ? " Modern writers on conversation tend to dwell on the emotional rewards that come from conversation . They argue that conversation is good for the psyche ( or soul ) or that con- versation strengthens our ...
... common Life and Conversation ? " Modern writers on conversation tend to dwell on the emotional rewards that come from conversation . They argue that conversation is good for the psyche ( or soul ) or that con- versation strengthens our ...
Page 26
... common and less excellent than la politesse . " Craveri speaks of " the enormous importance of politesse . ... It occu- pied the minds of the greatest eighteenth - century thinkers . " Politesse is a hard word to translate into English ...
... common and less excellent than la politesse . " Craveri speaks of " the enormous importance of politesse . ... It occu- pied the minds of the greatest eighteenth - century thinkers . " Politesse is a hard word to translate into English ...
Page 31
... common with conversation . The supplicant wants information about the future , which can be derived from a number of methods . They include consult- ing an oracle , " reading " a sacrificed animal's entrails ( extispicy ) , and ...
... common with conversation . The supplicant wants information about the future , which can be derived from a number of methods . They include consult- ing an oracle , " reading " a sacrificed animal's entrails ( extispicy ) , and ...
Contents
29 | |
EighteenthCentury Britain | 79 |
A Conversational Triumph Lady | 119 |
Raillery to Reverie | 150 |
From Benjamin | 194 |
From | 242 |
NINE The Ways We Dont Converse Now | 264 |
TEN The End of Conversation? | 291 |
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Common terms and phrases
According Addison admired agree American anger appeared argues asked attacked attended avoid became become Boswell Britain called century cities civil clubs Coffee coffeehouses common continually conversationalist conversible world critic culture describes dinner discussion easy effect eighteenth-century England English enjoyed essay feel Franklin friends give guests human Hume ideas implies important Instant Messaging interest Italy Johnson Lady Mary leading learned less letter listen live London look mainly manners means meet mind natural never one's opinion party passions person play pleasures poem polite popular praised questions raillery reason refers remark salon sation says seems sense social society Socrates solitude sounds speaks Spectator sublime suffering Swift talk thing thought tion told turn versation wants women Woolf writers wrote young