On the Bookshelf: “The Ancient Art of Thinking for Yourself” by Robin Reames

We live in a polarized time, and often, we focus on our different positions. In fact, sometimes we focus so much on our differences that we forget to look for our areas of agreement. This is a mistake, according to Robin Reames, author of The Ancient Art of Thinking for Yourself: The Power of Rhetoric in Polarized Times.

Reames is a professor of English at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Rhetoric, the art of speaking persuasively, is her expertise, and in her new book, she argues that we collectively suffer the loss of this ancient art. Adeptly interweaving the downfall of Athens with the assault on democracy today, Reames describes the historical nature, importance, and study of convincing people with words. After doing the hard work of reviewing the historical texts and evolution of the field, the author seeks to position her readers to engage in the critical thinking needed to understand the tools of rhetoric and see them for what they are. As stated in the introduction, “This book isn’t interested in reinforcing your ideological interpretations or critiquing those of your opponents. Neither is it interested in teaching you how to defend your ideology or attack your adversary’s … This book argues for a goal change: from taking positions, arguing points, and villainizing opponents, to understanding how political ideology persuades and creates belief in the first place” (p. 15-16).

Using current day examples, including the tense relationship between her conservative father and her liberal self, Reames discusses the historic and present definitions of truth, the relationship between facts and conspiracy theories, the power of (certain) stories, the importance of understanding ideological beliefs that transcend different points of view, the motivating power behind prioritized values, and the need for productive disagreement, known as agonism (as opposed to antagonism).

One example that will likely resonate herein related to how the COVID-19 pandemic was discussed. Using several examples, Reames demonstrated that the metaphor for the U.S. during COVID-19 was that of a business, reminding readers of the commonness of phrases like “opening up the country” and “getting back to work.” She wrote,

“When we unpack this metaphor, we see which aspects of reality it highlights—and which it hides. To begin with, if America is a business, who is the boss? Who are the employees? … We might think of ourselves and our neighbors as employees rather than as voters who elected those politicians to represent us. This vehicle could make us more distrustful and perhaps even resentful of the things that politicians, lawmakers, or appointed experts direct us to do, just as we might resent a manager requiring us to work longer hours or distrust their motivation when they, say, restructure our department, assign us to a new manager, institute a dress code, or add new responsibilities to our job description” (p. 106).

Reames further developed the outcomes of this metaphor considering the emotions (fear and worry) that might come from concerns that a business might close and the sense of need to act hastily and resume normal operations quickly to prevent said closure. She then asked readers to consider, “how differently we might be moved to think and therefore act if we talked about the nation as, say, a family” (p. 107), hypothesizing that this metaphor may have led us to collectively prioritize care for the most vulnerable and assign motives of protection and knowledge based on experience to our experts. In another example, she asked readers to consider “the nation as a team,” where experts and elected leaders may have been viewed as coaches and actions may have been characterized by cooperation and coordination of efforts. She concluded, “Whatever the case, changing the metaphor could change the way we think, and changing the way we think would change the way we act” (p. 107).

The book offers many thought-provoking ideas about how we communicate with each other and the power of our words, yet it is written in an approachable and engaging manner. The end of the book also includes discussion questions and summaries of important concepts from each chapter as well as “The Rhetorical Thinker’s Cheat Sheet.”

Ready to check it out? Visit the publisher’s website, which also offers links to various booksellers.