Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations May 2021 Revolutions of Virtues: Revisiting the Underpinnings of Rhetorical Education Eric Reid Hamilton Clemson University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Recommended Citation Hamilton, Eric Reid, "Revolutions of Virtues: Revisiting the Underpinnings of Rhetorical Education" (2021). All Dissertations. 2794. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2794 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. REVOLUTIONS OF VIRTUES: REVISITING THE UNDERPINNINGS OF RHETORICAL EDUCATION A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design by Eric Reid Hamilton May 2021 Accepted by: Dr. David Blakesley, Committee Chair Dr. Cynthia Haynes Dr. Kelly Smith Dr. Brygg Ullmer i ABSTRACT This dissertation concerns the prevalent disconnect between writing instruction and moral education in modern university settings. The project calls for integrating the progymnasmata as informed through Aristotelian virtue ethics to enable rhetorical flourishing. I examine the need for explicit ethical frameworks in writing instruction, evaluating multiple approaches and advocating virtue ethics. All fourteen exercises of the progymnasmata, according to the system popularized by Aphthonius of Antioch, will be detailed and updated for the contemporary classroom. Quintilian’s pedagogical scholarship and practice will serve as a model for application. The specific virtues of adaptability, experimentation, and mindfulness will be promoted as central values of the rhetorical tradition uniquely suited for bridging the gap between composition training and ethical development.