This book redefines our understanding of theory, criticism and pedagogy with the vocabulary of neo-pragmatism. When human knowledge becomes historicized and socialized, the distinctions between our public, academic and instructional personae fade. In...
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This book redefines our understanding of theory, criticism and pedagogy with the vocabulary of neo-pragmatism. When human knowledge becomes historicized and socialized, the distinctions between our public, academic and instructional personae fade. In place of such traditional personae, a new identity is encouraged for scholars in the field of communication. The book successfully argues that rhetorical scholars can assume a cultural importance in life
Cover; Contents; Foreword; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1 - Toward Praxis In Disciplinary Scholarship; Rhetoric, Critical Theory, and the Possibility for Social Change; The Contribution of Critical Theory to Rhetorical Studies; The Need for Critical Responses to Western or American Social Practices; The Need for Localized Resistance; Qualifying the Positions of My Neo-Pragmatist Assumptions; Methodological/Theoretical Assumptions; Rhetorical Praxis as Teleological Study; Critical Teleology as a Neo-Pragmatist Activity; Organization of Study; Chapter 2 - Redescribing Disciplinary Practice
Historicizing the Assumptions of Our Disciplinary KnowledgeThe Social Limitations of Philosophical Language; Finding Linguistic Meaning Without Metaphysical Certainty; The ""End"" of Philosophy and the ""Task"" of Rhetoric; The Influence of Neo-Pragmatism on Rhetorical Studies; Rhetorical Studies, Ironism, and Leftist Political Practice; Exploring the Three Conditions of Rorty's Ironism; The Social Implications of a Redefined Critical Scholarship; Redescribing the Tensions Between Academia and Society; Restructuring Theory to Meet the Needs of Praxis
Foucault's Contribution to Disciplinary PraxisSummary; Chapter 3 - Toward a Neo-Pragmatic Approach to Rhetorical Theory; Resisting the ""Methodological Injunctions"" of the Dichotomy Between ""Ephemeral"" and ""Enduring"" Scholarship; Deconstructing Traditional Accounts of ""Ephemeral"" and ""Enduring"" Rhetorical Theory and Criticism; Scholarship, and the Scientizing of Criticism; Emphasizing the Rhetorical Dimensions of All Scholarship; Criticism and the Issue of ""Reality""; Challenging the Metaphysical Readings of Kenneth Burke; Burke's Obfuscation of the Enduring/Ephemeral Dichotomy
Learning to Resist the Reification of Burkean TheoryAnalyzing Contemporary Reifications of Burkean Philosophy; Theory as Equipment for Social Action: Kenneth Burke, Rhetoric, and Ideological Critique; Burke's Commitment to Social Criticism; The Ideological Qualities of Burke's Rhetoric of Form; Historicizing the Social Contributions of Counter-Statement; Toward a Neo-Pragmatic Praxis of Form; Chapter 4 - Facing The Social Limitations of Disciplinary Rhetorical Criticism; An Analysis of Four Disciplinary Views of Nixon's ""The War in Vietnam"" Address
Analysis of Robert P. Newman's Criticism of Nixon's AddressExploring the Tension Between Social and Disciplinary Critique in Newman's Essay; Kendall's Response to Newman and Its Implications for Ideological Criticism; Analysis of Hermann G. Stelzner's Mythic Criticism of Nixon's Address; Challenging the Social Distance in Stelzner's Analysis; Analysis of Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's Intrinsic Criticism of Nixon's Address; Challenging the limited Application of Campbell's Analysis; Analysis of Forbes Hill's Neo-Aristotelian Criticism of Nixon's Address
Challenging the Limited Claims of Hill's Scholarship
