Blumenberg’s Rhetoric

Marking the 50th anniversary of one among this philosopher’s most distinguished pieces, Blumenberg’s Rhetoric proffers a decidedly dialogic and diversified interaction with the essay polyvalently entitled ‘Anthropological Approach to the Actuality and Topicality (or Currency, Relevance) of Rhetoric’ ("Anthropologische Annäherung an die Aktualität der Rhetorik"), first published in 1971. Following Blumenberg’s lead, the contributors consider and tackle their topics rhetorically, ‘in utramque partem vel in plures’—treating (inter alia) the variegated discourses of Phenomenology, the History of Philosophy, Anthropology, and the téchne itself from a plurality of viewpoints. Quasi in actu—as a mise en abyme of this rhetorical method par excellence—said accent on approaching any matter polyperspectivally is reflected in the proceedings of the live(ly) discussions having taken place in preparation for the present volume. Along with the diachronically extensive, disciplinarily diverse essays, this publication of the actual academic interplay—notably in the current lingua franca—will facilitate, and is to conduce to, further scholarship with respect to Blumenberg and the art of rhetoric.