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| ERIC #: | ED285233 |
| Title: | Meaning and Knowledge in a Pragmatic Theory of Rhetoric. |
| Authors: | Mackin, Jim |
| Descriptors: | Communication Research; Epistemology; Intellectual Experience; Interpersonal Communication; Language Universals; Linguistic Competence; Pragmatics; Rhetoric; Rhetorical Criticism; Semantics; Semiotics; Speech Communication |
| Source: | N/A |
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| Publisher: | N/A |
| Publication Date: | 1987-11-08 |
| Pages: | 16 |
| Pub Types: | Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research |
| Abstract: | The beginnings of a pragmatic rhetorical theory can help relate rhetoric to human meaning systems. A pragmatic rhetorical theory is not concerned with whether or not an intentional experience is true to an objective reality beyond human experience, but rather deals with how rhetoric interacts with experiences in the construction of human meaning theories. A semiotic theory of meaning allows meaning to shift constantly as new signs and new contexts are experienced by the brain, which allows humans to construct "cultural units of meaning" that change as they react rhetorically with others. However, there is no "cultural linguistic competence" to go along with cultural units of meaning, only individual competence, because cultures and societies do not talk, only individuals do. For example, there is no "correct" American language with correct meanings and pronunciations, only individual expressions and content systems. Humans learn to interact as individuals through semiotically experiencing the rhetoric of others, associating denotations with semantic markers used by others, connotations with memories of experiences, and values and attitudes with complex links of connotative and denotative semantic markers. They also try to arrange their dictionaries of signs hierarchically to shape reality (editing entries to create consistent belief systems but never totally eliminating inconsistencies from the underlying rhetorical encyclopedia). In this framework, truth and objectivity are only relative to an individual dictionary, and thus cannot be universal or absolute. (SKC) |
| Abstractor: | N/A |
| Reference Count: | 0 |
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| Note: | Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association (73rd, Boston, MA, November 5-8, 1987). |
| Identifiers: | Connotations; Linguistic Context; Linguistic Relativity; Perceived Reality |
| Record Type: | Non-Journal |
| Level: | 1 - Available on microfiche |
| Institutions: | N/A |
| Sponsors: | N/A |
| ISBN: | N/A |
| ISSN: | N/A |
| Audiences: | N/A |
| Languages: | English |
| Education Level: | N/A |
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