Editor’s note

With this issue, Philosophy and Rhetoric inaugurates a new section devoted to the essay. Its appearance was sparked by the submission of Dominique de Courcelles’s reflection on the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon off shore drilling rig and resulting ecological catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. De Courcelles’s essay prompted discussion among the editors about the place of such reflections in scholarly journals. Concern over decisions by BP officials that privileged profit over environmentally safe practices, the release of inaccurate and possibly misleading communication about the extent of the spill, politicians eager to turn human tragedy to partisan advantage, and more underscored the need, as Hannah Arendt put it, to think what we are doing. The essay is a form of reflection and argument appropriate to this concern. The new section will feature leading voices invited to reflect on topics of their choosing that address timely questions pertaining to the (im)possibilities of rhetorical-philosophical inquiry and practice and to consider how political practices shape the potential of the philosophical and rhetorical. Book review editor Erik Doxtader will have responsibility for this section.