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BestsellerE-book
Author Hidary, Richard, author.

Title Rabbis and classical rhetoric : sophistic education and oratory in the Talmud and Midrash / Richard Hidary.

Publication Info. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017.
©2017

Item Status

Description 1 online resource
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary Training in rhetoric - the art of persuasion - formed the basis of education in the Roman Empire. The classical intellectual world centered around the debate between philosophers, who boasted knowledge of objective reality, and sophists, who could debate both sides of any issue and who attracted large audiences and paying students. The roles of the Talmudic rabbis as public orators, teachers, and jurists, parallel that of Roman orators. Rabbinic literature adopted and adapted various aspects of the classical rhetorical tradition, as is demonstrated in the Talmudic penchant for arguing both sides of hypothetical cases, the midrashic hermeneutical methods, and the structure of synagogue sermons. At the same time, the rabbis also resisted the extreme epistemological relativism of rhetoric as is evident in their restraint on theoretical argumentation, their depiction of rabbinic and divine court procedure, and their commitment to the biblical prophetic tradition. Richard Hidary demonstrates how rabbis succeeded in navigating a novel path between platonic truth and rhetorical relativism.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Rabbinical literature -- History and criticism.
Rabbinical literature.
Rhetoric, Ancient.
Rhetoric, Ancient.
Reasoning.
Reasoning.
RELIGION -- Judaism -- General.
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Other Form: Print version: 9781107177406
ISBN 9781316831663 (electronic book)
1316831663 (electronic book)
1316831337
9781316831335
9781316822722
1316822729
1107177405
9781107177406 (hardback)
9781316628355 (paperback)