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 26
... sound stuffy to me ; I would prefer " agreeability of the mind " —a mental dis- position to please others . There was some disagreement about who could be po- lite , but most writers did not think politeness was an attribute of class ...
... sound stuffy to me ; I would prefer " agreeability of the mind " —a mental dis- position to please others . There was some disagreement about who could be po- lite , but most writers did not think politeness was an attribute of class ...
Page 33
... sounds like an interrogation , for the friends want Job to confess his guilt . Eliphaz , the first friend to speak , is the soft cop . He offers reassurance : all will be well if Job agrees with him that there is a reason for his ...
... sounds like an interrogation , for the friends want Job to confess his guilt . Eliphaz , the first friend to speak , is the soft cop . He offers reassurance : all will be well if Job agrees with him that there is a reason for his ...
Page 46
... sounds hopeful : " Freedom will bite back more fiercely when suspended than when she remains undisturbed . " Yet in other passages he is gloomy about Rome's prospects . One year after On Duties was completed , Cicero was proscribed ...
... sounds hopeful : " Freedom will bite back more fiercely when suspended than when she remains undisturbed . " Yet in other passages he is gloomy about Rome's prospects . One year after On Duties was completed , Cicero was proscribed ...
Page 54
... sounds as if he were writing about contemporary American conversation when he says : " Most people are so infatuated ... sound like a public speaker ( " In speak- ing , a man should avoid ... the pomposity of 54 Three Factors Affecting ...
... sounds as if he were writing about contemporary American conversation when he says : " Most people are so infatuated ... sound like a public speaker ( " In speak- ing , a man should avoid ... the pomposity of 54 Three Factors Affecting ...
Page 66
... sound rea- son . " His point is that men will not think logically or boldly if women are present . Swift , as we have seen , thought the presence of women improved conversation , and he also thought women were ca- pable of holding their ...
... sound rea- son . " His point is that men will not think logically or boldly if women are present . Swift , as we have seen , thought the presence of women improved conversation , and he also thought women were ca- pable of holding their ...
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