Why the “epistemic” in epistemic rhetoric? The paradox of rhetoric as performance

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12370151
AutoresRichard A Cherwitz (The University of Texas at Austin, autor correspondente), Thomas J Darwin (University of Memphis)
Ano1995
Volume15
Fascículo3
Páginas189-205
Data de publicação1995-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoText and Performance Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1046-2937 • E-ISSN: 1479-5760
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10462939509366116
OpenAlexW2026191320
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas26

In 1967 Robert L. Scott proclaimed that rhetoric is epistemic. Since then, some have declared the rhetorical epistemology controversy dead, suggesting that epistemology is not or should not be the linchpin of rhetorical theory. Implicitly, if not explicitly, theorists now appear to be suggesting that the meaning of rhetoric resides not in its epistemic foundations, but in its hermeneutic, pragmatic, and aesthetic dimensions, that is, in its “performance.” In this essay, we argue that there is no way to avoid an examination of epistemology when addressing the function and importance of the rhetorical enterprise. It is our contention that a theory of rhetoric as performance—one that eschews epistemic foundations—is paradoxical, nullifying the raison d'etre of rhetoric

Epistemology · Function (biology · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Rhetoric · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Philosophy · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Rhetoric and Communication Studies