Listening, Thinking, Being

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Akroatic Thinking

Vibrating Worlds and Listening Bodies

Premodern Perspectives on Language and Thought

Contemporary Perspectives on Language and Thought

Communication and a Nice Knock-Down Argument

Interlistening and the Tout Ensemble

Listening Others to Speech

Toward an Ethics of Attunement

Notes

Bibliography

Index

“In this well-written book, Lipari provides an analysis of how humans build ethical relationships with others through listening. In eight chapters, the author makes clear the value and importance of listening as a fundamental human ability inextricably connected with language and thought. Through a variety of philosophical, personal, and cultural perspectives, Lipari frames listening in new ways. In a particularly interesting chapter, “Communication and a Nice Knock-Down Argument,” Lipari argues that even communication in isolation is dialogic because of the ways in which words from the past reverberate with the rhetor. In a concluding chapter, Lipari argues for “attunement,” the inseparable connection between speaking and logos. Many other texts engage the importance of listening in human communication . . . but Lipari is one of few scholars to take on the daunting task of developing new philosophical approaches to this subject.”

—K. L. Majocha, Choice