Contributes to scholarship which advances the understanding of human communication. Explicates Tronto's (1993) theory of moral boundaries as a framework for analyzing the rhetoric of a patriarchal ideology that privileges men and marginalizes women. Examines the discourse surrounding the failed nomination of Zoe Baird for U.S. Attorney General,…

Analyzes postassassination newspaper editorials eulogizing John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. Argues that they fulfill four rhetorical functions: providing a public space for symbolic catharsis, celebrating individual virtues and mythic constructions of those virtues, attempting to reknit communal bonds, and calling…

Defines a relational approach to moral reasoning. Notes that the Supreme Court, in "Planned Parenthood v. Casey," rejected simplistic approaches to moral reasoning and acknowledged the complex web of relationships involved in abortion decision making. Suggests that rhetoricians "revision" the art of persuasion to place more…