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In the preface to Institutio Oratoria, Quintilian describes the aspiration that inspires his course of study:
For
the perfection of eloquence is assuredly something, nor does the nature
of the human mind forbid us to reach it; but if to reach it be not
granted us, yet those who shall strive to gain the summit will make
higher advances than those who, prematurely conceiving a despair of
attaining the point at which they aim, shall at once sink down at the
foot of the ascent. (Trans. John Selby Watson and James J. Murphy.
Southern Illinois University Press. 1987.)
Quintilian was
talking about rhetorical training, but I think the same sentiment
applies to our goals for rhetorical practice as well. We don't
deliberate as well as we should or could, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying to improve our deliberations.
I
don't believe that rhetorical practice is perfectible, as Quintilian hoped, but questions of how to define rhetorical good practices and
how to implement those practices are a driving force in both my
teaching and research.
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