"Code status" is a prominent feature of end-of-life discussions in U.S. hospitals. This essay analyzes how the rhetoric of code status articulates the terms of end-of-life decision-making in one hospital's "Patient" Preferences Worksheet. The Worksheet signifies the abandonment of the technological fix as the preferred…

Discusses pluralistic alternatives for communication theory accompanied by a responsibility for specification of falsification criteria. Examines four necessary links in the falsification of rules propositions from an action perspective. The criteria suggested are an extension of the "covering law" criteria, which are adapted to a recent…

Examines the term "performance" as it is used by theorists in rhetoric and communication. Investigates what the term offers to the understanding of rhetorical practices and how people communicate. Interprets performance as agency, and argues that performing resistance to a subject position may generate enough noise to attack the…

Extends G. P. Mohrmann's premise regarding the textual study of rhetorical discourse to indicate that (1) textual criticism should result in theoretical understanding of texts, not in autonomous theories; (2) the sequencing or timing of textual elements offers ground for critical judgment; and (3) foundational conceptions frame discourse and…

Argues for the priority of a "praxical" hermeneutics over both an ontological and a methodological one. Proposes a praxical dimension to the hermeneutic tradition within communication studies by focusing on and expanding Hans-Georg Gadamer's notion of practice. Suggests some new possibilities for the study of communication and mass…

Examines the concept of the universal audience as the basic factor of Chaim Perelman's rhetorical theory and concludes that it is subject to the same criticism as Rousseau's general will and Kant's categorical imperative. (JMF)

Outlines Peirce's philosophy of rhetoric by examining his philosophy of signs and sketching his specific program for rhetoric as a general art for "rendering signs effective." Suggests that Peirce's work is part of a fully elaborated system of inquiry and signification. (JMF)

Discusses some modern elements in Adam Muller's rhetorical theory, particularly the stress on the dialogical, dynamic, and organic nature of the communicative process. Muller's concepts are compared with current concepts of identification and the rhetorical situation. (JMF)

Suggests that Jacques Derrida's deconstructive analyses expose the "metaphysical exigency," a concealed choice significant to a philosophical position's exposition. Contrasts Derrida's views with Martin Heidegger's, particularly with respect to intersubjectivity and disclosure of being. Question the possibility for communication and…

Applies a Burkean Approach to performance appraisal interviews. Contends that studies of the appraisal interview should be based on longitudinal observation and analysis of performance, behavior, character, and cultural fit, not solely on the behavior exhibited during the interview. (PD)

Explores the assumptions underlying the role of values in rhetorical interactions, the meaning of "logic" in relation to "good reasons," a reconceptualization of "good reasons," implementation of a "logic of 'good reasons'," and the uses of hierarchies of values in assessing rhetorical reasoning. (JMF)