Systematically Distorted Communication: An Impediment to Social and Political Change
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22329/il.v30i4.1188Keywords:
Systematically distorted communication, social and political change, Habermas, rhetoric, argument theory, rationality, truthAbstract
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.
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Published
2010-12-15
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