Dialogic civility in a cynical age : community, hope, and interpersonal relationships / Ronald C. Arnett and Pat Arneson ; foreword by Julia T. Wood.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arnett, Ronald C., 1952-

Contributor:

Arneson, Pat, 1961-

Series:

SUNY series in communication studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Interpersonal communication.

Interpersonal relations.

Civil society.

Cynicism.

Physical Description:

xvii, 331 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [1999]

Summary:

Dialogic Civility in a Cynical Age offers a philosophical and pragmatic response to unreflective cynicism. Considering that each of us has faced inappropriate cynical communication in families, educational institutions, and the workplace, this book offers insight and practical guidance for people interested in improving their interpersonal relationships in an age of rampant cynicism.

Contents:

Part I. Interpersonal Praxis: From Communicative Crisis to Narrative Action 1

1. Introduction: Beginning the Conversation 3

Horizon of Significance

The Conceptual Key

2. Voices of Cynicism and Hope 11

Routine Cynicism

Interpersonal Suspicion

Language Disconnected from Action

Listening to Two Sides of Cynicism

Routine Cynicism as Debilitating

Cynicism as Survival Tool

The Wedding of Cynicism and Hope

Pain and Joy

Hope within Limits

3. Historicality and Presence 29

A Foundation for Communicative Change

Historicality

Missing the Historical Moment

Meeting the Historical Moment

Dialogic Limits

A Dialogic Perspective

A Practical Dialectic

Interpersonal Praxis as Historical Common Sense

Interpersonal Commonplaces

4. Common Ground: Interpersonal Narrative 51

Opening Narrative Structures

Narrative Background

From Metanarrative to Therapeutic Culture

Historical Mismatch

The Therapeutic Metaphor

An Overextended Metaphor

Walter Lippmann's Warning

A Narrative Ethic for Interpersonal Discourse

Part II. Interpersonal Voices 79

Section 1. Narrative Decline: Interpersonal Dialogue and Self

5. Carl Rogers: A Voice of Pragmatic Optimism 83

Significance of Carl Rogers's Life and Practice

A Founding Voice

Scope of Carl Rogers's Influence

The Quiet Revolutionary

Communicative Focus

Historical Grounding

An Optimistic Listener

Central Concepts in Carl Rogers's Work

Self

Innate Wisdom of the Human Organism

Relationship

Historicality and Dialogic Civility

6. Abraham Maslow: Science, Values, and Additive Change 103

Significance of Abraham Maslow's Science/Values Project

Additive Approach to Science

Additive Education

Self in Service to the Other

Central Concepts in Abraham Maslow's Work

A Science of Interpersonal Health

Human Values

Self-Actualization and Earned Self-Esteem

Peak-Experiences

Section 2. Narrative Confrontation: Interpersonal Dialogue and Crisis

7. Martin Buber: Attending and Response Between Persons 127

Martin Buber's Common Center: The Between

Horizon of the Between

The Existential-Phenomenological Nature of the Between

Ambiguity, Story, and Guidance

A Communicative Poetic

Central Concepts in Martin Buber's Work

The Great Character

Dialogue

Focus of Attention

Authenticity

8. Carol Gilligan: Gender and Moral Voice 149

Historical Context: A Window for Cynicism

Moral Voices

Central Concepts in Carol Gilligan's Work

Female Adolescence

Disconnection

Re-Connection and Care

Responsibility in Relationship-Grounded Caring

A Dialectical Dance

A Morality of Care

Voice and Inclusion

9. Paulo Freire: Dignity and the Limits of Inclusion 167

Interpersonal Pedagogy

Humility

Praxis

Affirming the Other

The Limits of Inclusion

Central Concepts in Paulo Freire's Work

Rejecting a Culture of Silence

Narrative Sickness

Critical Consciousness

10. Sissela Bok: Crisis and Ethical Imagination 189

Ethics and Postmodernity

Communication without Ethical Coherence

Central Concepts in Sissela Bok's Work

Lying

Secrets

Peace

Common Values

11. Viktor Frankl: Meaning, Displacement, and Courage 207

Lived Life as Thoughtful Action

Central Concepts in Viktor Frankl's Work

Pragmatic Spiritualism

Meeting Disappointment and Suffering

Discovering Meaning

Tripod of Meaning

Tragic Triad

Freedom

Problematic Assumptions

Self-Actualization

Contrary to the Pleasure Principle

Choosing Meaning

Section 3. Narrative Construction: Interpersonal Dialogue and Story

12. Nel Noddings: Re-Storying an Ethic of Care 233

Re-Storying Ethics

Missing Stories

Caring as Story

Moral Education

Central Concepts in Nel Noddings's Work

Reducing Evil

An Ethic of Caring

Caring in Relation

Risks of Caring

Intuition and Interpersonal Reasoning

Intuitive Capacities

Complementary to Reason

Meaning and Story

13. Robert Bellah: Re-Storying Broken Covenants 255

The Practices of Identity

Individualism

Therapeutic Limits

Characters of Modern Life

Central Concepts in Robert Bellah's Work

Broken Covenants

Tacit Understanding of a Problematic Story

Communicative Background

The Common Good

Inviting Community

Part III. Dialogic Civility 277

14. The Interpersonal Praxis of Dialogic Civility 279

From Privatized to Public Discourse

A Minimal Foundation for Dialogic Civility

Respect and Civility

Civility and the Other

A Call for Dialogic Civility

From Unreflective Practice to Praxis

Our Historical Problematic

Practical Philosophy of Dialogic Civility

Conclusion

Dialogic Civility.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-322) and index.

ISBN:

0791443256

0791443264

OCLC:

41137624