Arguing and Thinking
A Rhetorical Approach to Social Psychology

New edition of seminal book which provoked the discursive turn in the social sciences.

Michael Billig (Author)

9780521567398, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 23 February 1996

336 pages
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.48 kg

'Arguing and thinking is a book of rare significance … there are many worthy tomes which everyone quotes but no one reads. This is not one of them. It is a seminal work that should be read, and read by all.' Stephen Reicher, British Journal of Social Psychology

Michael Billig's rhetorical approach has been key to the discursive turn in the social sciences. His witty and original book examines argumentation and its psychological importance in human conduct, and traces the connections between ancient rhetorical ideas and modern social psychology. In a new introduction, he offers further reflections on rhetoric and social psychology, discusses the recent scholarship, and allows some forgotten voices in the history of rhetoric to be heard.

Second thoughts, second arguments: a new introduction
1. Antiquarian psychology
2. Rules, roles and arguments
3. Protagoras and the origins of rhetoric
4. The science of persuasion
5. The art of witchcraft
6. Categorization and particularization
7. Advocacy and attitudes
8. Dilemmas of common sense
9. The spirit of contradiction.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Semantics, discourse analysis, etc [CFG]