Systematically Distorted Communication: An Impediment to Social and Political Change

Authors

  • Alan G Gross University of Minnesota

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22329/il.v30i4.1188

Keywords:

Systematically distorted communication, social and political change, Habermas, rhetoric, argument theory, rationality, truth

Abstract

 I define and refine Habermas’s notion of systematically distorted communication by means of focused, structured comparison among three of its instances. Next, I show that its critique is possible within the confines of his theory by recourse to a minimalist concept of rationality and a version of the truth that avoids the unwelcome metaphysical baggage of truth with a capital T. For critique to be complete, however, it must be supplemented by the full range of rhetorical proofs. Even so, there are limits to the power of critique. In the end, only social and political action can alter oppressive institutional arrangements.

 

Author Biography

Alan G Gross, University of Minnesota

Professor of Communication Studies, University of Minnesota

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Published

2010-12-15

Issue

Vol. 30 No. 4 (2010)

Section

Articles

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