In A Peculiar Humanism, William E. Wiethoff assesses the judicial use of oratory in reviewing slave cases and the struggle to fashion a humanist jurisprudence on slavery despite the customary restraints placed on judicial advocacy.

WILLIAM E. WIETHOFF is a professor emeritus of the Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University. He is also the author of The Insolent Slave and Crafting the Plantation Overseer's Image.