Richard M. Weaver on standards for ethical rhetoric
- 1 June 1978
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Central States Speech Journal
- Vol. 29 (2) , 127-137
- https://doi.org/10.1080/10510977809367966
Abstract
After summarizing relevant philosophical assumptions held by Richard M. Weaver, this paper explicates potential standards for ethical discourse extracted from Weaver's views on rhetoric. (1) Arguments from genus and from similitude are ethically preferable to arguments from consequences or from circumstances. (2) Pseudoneutrality in language usage is ethically suspect. (3) Unwarranted shifts in meanings of words are ethically suspect. (4) Communication which blurs necessary distinctions is ethically suspect. (5) Public discourse which focuses solely on the realm of the ideal or hypothetical, avoiding attempts to link the ideal with the actual, is ethically suspect.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Attitude of speaker toward audience: A significant concept for contemporary rhetorical theory and criticismCentral States Speech Journal, 1974
- Language as Symbolic ActionPublished by University of California Press ,1966
- Richard weaver's view of rhetoric and criticismThe Southern Speech Journal, 1966
- TOWARD A MEANING-CENTERED PHILOSOPHY OF COMMUNICATIONJournal of Communication, 1962