Reviews the following books on rhetoric and education: (1) Wayne Booth's anthology, "The Vocation of a Teacher: Rhetorical Occasions"; (2) Gerald Graff's "Professing Literature: An Institutional History"; and (3) "The Voice of Liberal Learning: Michael Oakeshott on Education," edited by Timothy Fuller. (JS)

The history of liberal education is the story of a debate between orators, whose tradition stresses commitment to a body of civic knowledge derived from texts, and philosophers from whom our modern notion of formal science and specialized research originates. The story is very old--not only historically as it begins with Socrates and Plato--but…

Twentieth century historical treatments of liberal education, often conflicting and confused, are examined and the relationship of this confusion to previous historical interpretations is discussed. It is concluded that liberal education is neglected as a topic of historical research. (MSE)