American Pragmatism and Communication Research

<p>This monograph examines the past present and potential relationship between American pragmatism and communication research. The contributors provide a bridge between communication studies and philosophy subjects often developed somewhat in isolation from each other.<br><br> Addressing topics such as qualitative and quantitative research ethics media research and feminist studies the chapters in this volume:<br> *discuss how a pragmatic Darwinian approach to inquiry has guided and might further guide communication research;<br> *advocate a functional view of communication based on Dewey's mature notion of transaction;<br> *articulate a pragmatist's aesthetics and connect it to Deweyan democracy;<br> *discuss the similarities and differences between Dewey's notion of inquiry and the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer;<br> *apply accommodation theory linked to symbolic interactionism and more generally to the social behaviorism of George H. Mead and his followers to media research;<br> *interpret media-effects evidence in light of pragmatist ideas about inquiry; and <br> *argue that pragmatism theorizes about despair and life's sense of the tragic. <br><br> This book is written to be readily accessible to students and professional academics within and outside the field of communication studies without extensive training in specialized areas of communication study.</p>