Richard M. Weaver (1910-1963) was one of the leading rhetoricians of the 1950s, whose philosophical and pedagogical writings helped revitalize interest in rhetoric. His rhetorical contributions are difficult to separate from his conservative stances on social and political issues; and, indeed, he espoused the cultural role of rhetoric, conceiving of his intellectual task as one of reinventing a philosophical conservatism and employing rhetorical theory to oppose liberalism and modernism. Today, his politics would be viewed as extreme by liberals, feminists, and civil libertarians; on the...