Odious Praise: Rhetoric, Religion, and Social Thought

Odious Praise is a book that explores a tradition of thought overlooked in intellectual history, which uses acclaim to censure or critique. It reassesses the genre of praise-and-blame rhetoric by considering the potential of odious praise to undermine consensus and challenge societys normative values. Eric MacPhail identifies a tradition of epideictic rhetoric from ancient Greece to Renaissance Europe, with examples from the writings of Lorenzo Valla, Niccol Machiavelli, Desiderius Erasmus, Michel de Montaigne, Joachim du Bellay, and Jean Bodin. By inscribing a positive value to an object worthy of blame, cultural values are turned on their head, and MacPhail argues that recognizing and engaging with this tradition can reinvigorate our study of the history of social thought and reveal the roots of modern social science.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 146 pages
Publication date: 10 May 2024
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press

This book delves into a tradition of thought that has been overlooked in our intellectual history, yet remains immensely influential even in the present day: the tradition of odious praise. Unlike more conventional rhetorical exercises such as panegyric or funeral oration, odious praise employs acclaim to censure or critique. This book reevaluates the genre of praise-and-blame rhetoric by exploring the potential of odious praise to undermine consensus and challenge a society's normative values.

Surveying a wide range of literature from ancient Greece to Renaissance Europe, Eric MacPhail identifies a tradition of epideictic rhetoric that originated with the sophists but was most vigorously cultivated and employed by Renaissance political thinkers. Through the analysis of examples from the writings of Lorenzo Valla, Niccol Machiavelli, Desiderius Erasmus, Michel de Montaigne, Joachim du Bellay, and Jean Bodin, among others, MacPhail demonstrates how odious praise can reverse the positive value assigned to an object deserving of blame. He traces the use of this technique to critique the values of the classical and scholastic traditions.

By recognizing and engaging with this tradition, MacPhail argues, we can revitalize our study of the history of social thought and uncover the origins of modern social science. Odious Praise is a rigorous and lucid exploration of a rhetoric that possesses the power to suspend and thus critique the values of a culture. In doing so, it reveals the earliest attempts at social thought and serves as a fertile ground for the development of modern social science. This book will appeal to scholars of Renaissance literature and culture, rhetoric, and political thought.

Weight: 227g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 10 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780271092348