Date of Award
Fall 2013
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
English
First Advisor
Thomas Rickert
Committee Chair
Thomas Rickert
Committee Member 1
Jennifer Bay
Committee Member 2
Richard Johnson- Sheehan
Committee Member 3
Patricia Sullivan
Abstract
This dissertation employs philology and cultural analysis to reassess longstanding notions in rhetorical theory and moral philosophy (via classical rhetoric and technical communication). In particular, I use diachronic analyses of the terms telos, symbouleutikon, and sympheron (from Aristotle to present) as a theoretical springboard to reassess more contemporary issues in rhetoric and technical communication. The technical communication topics this dissertation covers include criticisms of expediency as a motive in technical communication; the changing landscape of instruction manual composition; the role of purpose-completion and stakeholder awareness in visual rhetoric; and the futility of advancing ideology-free technical writing pedagogies. More theoretical topics this dissertation covers include Kenneth Burke's notions of rhetorical "war" and entelechy; the pluralistic underpinnings of Kantian moral philosophy; and the rhetorical utility of democratic inefficiency.
Recommended Citation
McKay, Ethan Sproat, "Inexorable Burden: Rhetoric and Togetherness" (2013). Open Access Dissertations. 54.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/54