Books by Communication and Rhetorical Studies Faculty
Welcome to the guide on books written by Communication and Rhetorical Studies faculty held by Gumberg Library. If you would like to see Gumberg purchase a book by a faculty member, use the Suggest a Purchase form. To learn more about a book, place your cursor over the 
next to the title. For authors with last names starting with C-T, use the navigation tab to the left.
Pat Arneson
Communicative Engagement and Social Liberation by
Communicative Engagement and Social Liberation: Justice Will Be Made recognizes limitations in contemporary understandings that separate history and rhetoric. Drawing together ontological and epistemic perspectives to allow for a fuller appreciation of communication in shaping lived-experience, facets of the two academic subjects are united in acts of communicative engagement. Communicative engagement draws from Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka s writings on the human condition; extends the communicative praxis of philosopher Calvin O. Schrag by reuniting the ria-poi sis-praxis; expands Ramsey Eric Ramsey s writings to provide ground for vitalizing social liberation; and includes the work of philosophers including Hans-Georg Gadamer, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Michel Foucault as well as philosophers of communication including Lenore Langsdorf, Michael J. Hyde, Corey Anton, and others who guide a recollection of the significance of poi sis in human communication. Myrtilla Miner, Mary White Ovington, and Jessie Daniel Ames dedicated their lives to being out-of-place and speaking out-of-turn to alter the way humanity was understood by members of society at large. The lived-experiences of these historical figures assists readers in recognizing how creativity (poi sis) can potentially enable liberation from restrictive social circumstances."
Dialogic Civility in a Cynical Age by
Offers insight and practical guidance for people interested in improving their interpersonal relationships in an age of rampant cynicism.
Exploring Communication Ethics by
Innovative in its approach and content, Exploring Communication Ethics: Interviews with Influential Scholars in the Field enlivens the study of human communication ethics by presenting interviews conducted with nine communication ethics scholars along with an advanced literature review. The interviews provide accessible and insightful discussions of the philosophical and theoretical issues central to communication ethics, revealing insights about the scholars’ experiences and thought processes unavailable elsewhere. This book is written for upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty members interested in communication ethics from the perspective of human communication and rhetorical studies, philosophy, and sociology.
Philosophy of Communication Ethics: Alterity and the Other by
Philosophy of Communication Ethics is a unique and timely contribution to the study of communication ethics. This series of essays articulates unequivocally the intimate connection between philosophy of communication and communication ethics. This scholarly volume assumes that there is a multiplicity of communication ethics. What distinguishes one communication ethic from another is the philosophy of communication in which a particular ethic is grounded. Philosophy of communication is the core ingredient for understanding the importance of and the difference between and among communication ethics. The position assumed by this collection is consistent with Alasdair MacIntyre s insights on ethics. In A Short History of Ethics, he begins with one principal assertion philosophy is subversive. If one cannot think philosophically, one cannot question taken-for-granted assumptions. In the case of communication ethics, to fail to think philosophically is to miss the bias, prejudice, and assumptions that constitute a given communication ethic."
Perspective on Philosophy of Communication by
This book provides readers with an appreciation of philosophy of communication as central to understanding and guiding communicative action in a postmodern culture. Each chapter provides readers with an understanding of the perspective of a well-recognised philosopher(s) and addresses how his/her work creatively informs current problems and issues in human communication. This work provides an opportunity for readers to engage the interpretive, creative, and ultimately pragmatic spirit of selected philosophers who open the possibilities of communicative content in different ways.
Ronald C. Arnett
Communication and Community by
Martin Buber’s work suggests that real life begins with two individuals engaged in dialogue, not just taking care of one’s own needs as described in social Darwinism. Arnett argues that the end of the age of abundance demands that we give up the communicative strategies of the past and seek to work together in the midst of limited resources and an uncertain future. Today’s situation calls for an unwavering commitment to Buber’s "narrow ridge” concern for both self and community. Arnett illustrates the narrow ridge definition of interpersonal communication with rich examples. His vignettes demonstrate effective and ineffective approaches to human community. An effective approach, he makes clear, incorporates not only openness to others’ points of view but also a willingness to be persuaded.
Communication Ethics in an Age of Diversity by 
Communication Ethics in Dark Times by
Renowned in the disciplines of political theory and philosophy, Hannah Arendt's searing critiques of modernity continue to resonate in other fields of thought decades after she wrote them. In Communication Ethics in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt's Rhetoric of Warning and Hope, author Ronald C. Arnett offers a groundbreaking examination of fifteen of Arendt's major scholarly works, considering the German writer's contributions to the areas of rhetoric and communication ethics for the first time. Arnett focuses on Arendt's use of the phrase "dark times" to describe the mistakes of modernity, defined by Arendt as the post-Enlightenment social conditions, discourses, and processes ruled by principles of efficiency, progress, and individual autonomy. These principles, Arendt argues, have led humanity down a path of folly, banality, and hubris. Throughout his interpretive evaluation, Arnett illuminates the implications of Arendt's persistent metaphor of "dark times" and engages the question, How might communication ethics counter the tenets of dark times and their consequences? A compelling study of Hannah Arendt's most noteworthy works and their connections to the fields of rhetoric and communication ethics, Communication Ethics in Dark Times provides an illuminating introduction for students and scholars of communication ethics and rhetoric, and a tool with which experts may discover new insights, connections, and applications to these fields. Top Book Award for Philosophy of Communication Ethics by Communication Ethics Division of the National Communication Association, 2013
Communication Ethics Literacy by
Communication Ethics Literacy offers a learning model of communication ethics literacy from a dialogic perspective, framing communication ethics as arising from a good or set of goods found within particular narratives, traditions, or virtue structures that guide human life. Offers examples and references from a variety of communication contexts, such as interpersonal, intercultural, and organizational, and subcontexts, such as family and health
Conflict Between Persons by Dialogic Civility in a Cynical Age by
Offers insight and practical guidance for people interested in improving their interpersonal relationships in an age of rampant cynicism.
Dialogic Confession by
In this landmark volume of contemporary communication theory, Ronald C. Arnett applies the metaphor of dialogic confession--which enables historical moments to be addressed from a confessed standpoint and through a communicative lens--to the works of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who pointed to an era of postmodern difference with his notion of "a world come of age." Arnett’s interpretations of Bonhoeffer’s life and scholarship in contention with Nazi dominance offer implications for a dialogic confession that engages the complexity of postmodern narrative contention. Rooted in classical theory, the field of communication ethics is abstract and arguably outmoded. In Dialogic Confession: Bonhoeffer’s Rhetoric of Responsibility, Arnett locates cross-cultural and comparative anchors that not only bring legitimacy and relevance to the field but also develop a conceptual framework that will advance and inspire future scholarship.
Dialogic Education by
Examining undergraduate education from the point of view of a philosopher of communication, Ronald C. Arnett takes a positive view of higher education during a time when education is being assailed as seldom before. Arnett responds to this criticism with convincing support of the academy reinforced by his personal experiences as well as those of others scholars and teachers. Arnett's book is an invitation to converse about higher education as well as a reminder of the potential for dialogue between teacher and student, dialogue that the author defines as a "willingness to enter conversation about ideas," to maintain relationships through differences, and to ask value questions. Arnett see education as more than the dispensing of information. He emphasizes the importance of character development as well as the the development of relationships between students and teachers. Arnett stresses the importance of honesty and integrity in students, teachers, and administrators, and he insists that education should focus more on the good of the entire school than on the individual. Arnett does not offer this book as the truth about education nor as a "how to teach" manual. Rather, he regards it as an attempt to understand education from a communication perspective and as a reminder of the positive and constructive aspects of teaching. The book is based on Arnett's belief that educators who care about ideas and people not only improve education but also benefit the community.
Dwell in Peace by
Nonviolence -- Moral and ethical aspects.
Peace.
Interpersonal relations.
Nonviolence -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.
Philosophy of Communication Ethics: Alterity and the Other by
Philosophy of Communication Ethics is a unique and timely contribution to the study of communication ethics. This series of essays articulates unequivocally the intimate connection between philosophy of communication and communication ethics. This scholarly volume assumes that there is a multiplicity of communication ethics. What distinguishes one communication ethic from another is the philosophy of communication in which a particular ethic is grounded. Philosophy of communication is the core ingredient for understanding the importance of and the difference between and among communication ethics. The position assumed by this collection is consistent with Alasdair MacIntyre s insights on ethics. In A Short History of Ethics, he begins with one principal assertion philosophy is subversive. If one cannot think philosophically, one cannot question taken-for-granted assumptions. In the case of communication ethics, to fail to think philosophically is to miss the bias, prejudice, and assumptions that constitute a given communication ethic."
An Overture to Philosophy of Communication by
Winner of the Everett Lee Hunt Award 2013. Winner of the National Communication Association (NCA) Philosophy of Communication Division’s award for Best Book. An Overture to Philosophy of Communication: The Carrier of Meaning explores a world beyond information accumulation, stressing meaningful engagement with existence. Meaning is composed between and among persons, ideas, and activities of communicative engagement. Meaning is central to the study and practice of philosophy of communication, providing story-laden guidance. The book examines philosophical differences between Boss and Zorba, following the development of their friendship in Zorba the Greek. Their story helps to exemplify the meaningful coordinates of philosophy of communication established in each chapter. The authors claim meaning as the pivotal conceptual terrain for philosophy of communication. This book offers a rationale for the pragmatic necessity of philosophy of communication in understanding the #65533;how#65533; and the #65533;why#65533; of orchestrating meaning from information and discourse throughout our communicative lives.
Communication Ethics by
This volume occasions a dialogue between major authors in the field who engage in a conversation on cosmopolitanism and provinciality from a communication ethics perspective. There is no consensus on what constitutes communication ethics, cosmopolitanism, or provinciality: the task is more modest and diverse and began with contributors being asked what the bias of their work suggests or offers for understanding the theme Communication Ethics: Between Cosmopolitanism and Provinciality. Rather than responding authoritatively, each essay acknowledges the contributor's own work. This book offers no answers, but invites a conversation that is more akin to a beginning, a joining, an admission that there is more than #65533;me#65533;, #65533;us#65533;, or #65533;my kind#65533; of people, theory, or wisdom. The book will be an excellent resource for instructors and for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in communication.
Levinas's Rhetorical Demand by
Philosopher Emmanuel Levinas's ethics as first philosophy explicates a human obligation and responsibility to and for the Other that is an unending and imperfect commitment. In Levinas's Rhetorical Demand: The Unending Obligation of Communication Ethics, Ronald C. Arnett underscores the profundity of Levinas's insights for communication ethics. Arnett outlines communication ethics as a primordial call of responsibility central to Levinas's writing and mission, analyzing it through a Levinasian lens with examination of social artifacts ranging from the Heidegger-Cassirer debate to Rupert Murdoch's News of the World story concerning illicit possession of information. Levinas's Rhetorical Demand offers an account of Levinas's project and the pragmatic implications of attending to a call of responsibility to and for the Other. This book yields a rich and nuanced understanding of Levinas's work, revealing the practical importance of his insights, and including a discussion of related theorists and thinkers.
The Reach of Dialogue by
This volume attempts to define the concept of dialogue and to indicate basic sources - philosophical, theoretical, and practical - that can illuminate dialogue's potential, its limitations, and relevancy to communication theory. Essays highlight central questions and issues.
Garnet Butchart
Philosophy of Communication by
To philosophize is to communicate philosophically. From its inception, philosophy has communicated forcefully. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle talk a lot, and talk ardently. Because philosophy and communication have belonged together from the beginning--and because philosophy comes into its own and solidifies its stance through communication--it is logical that we subject communication to philosophical investigation. This collection of key works of classical, modern, and contemporary philosophers brings communication back into philosophy's orbit. It is the first anthology to gather in a single volume foundational works that address the core questions, concepts, and problems of communication in philosophical terms. The editors have chosen thirty-two selections from the work of Plato, Leibniz, Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Lacan, Derrida, Sloterdijk, and others. They have organized these texts thematically, rather than historically, in seven sections: consciousness; intersubjective understanding; language; writing and context; difference and subjectivity; gift and exchange; and communicability and community. Taken together, these texts not only lay the foundation for establishing communication as a distinct philosophical topic but also provide an outline of what philosophy of communication might look like.
Embodiment, Relation, Community by 
