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Philosophy of Communication: PHIL 398T

Fall, 2005: 9/6 12/22, Tuesday/Thursday 11:45-1:00, AD-433 Instructor: Robert Danisch Office Hours: Monday: 11:30-12:30, Tuesday: 10:30-11:15, Wednesday: 11:30-12:30 Office: CR-5.211; Phone: ext. 5058 Email: rdanisch@alcor.concordia.ca Course Description: This course will introduce students to some of the philosophical issues involved in human communication. Topics will include: the analysis of different types of communication (interpersonal, electronic, mass, etc.); the relationship between communication and identity; the connection between communication and politics; the nature of language, and the role that symbols play in communication. These topics will guide discussions aimed at investigating the role of communication in larger philosophical issues such as existential notions of being and the production and dissemination of knowledge. Course Objectives: Students should gain a basic understanding of the history of communication as a topic for philosophical inquiry. Students should also gain a basic understanding of the different kinds of communication and the varying meaning and significance of those kinds. Students should acquire a theoretical perspective on the role communication might play in larger issues of epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and philosophy of language. Students should have a working vocabulary of key philosophies of communication (working vocabulary means that you will have the ability to use these theories in practical ways as explanatory or interpretive tools). Course Policies and Procedures: 1) In the Classroom This is not a lecture class. We will spend our time together discussing readings and engaged in conversation. It is important for everyone to participate in discussions for class to be most rewarding. For this to happen I must ask a few things of you. If you are someone who likes to talk a lot in class, try talking to fellow students to bring them into the conversation. If you are someone who does not like to talk a lot in class, think about the material beforehand, perhaps write down some interesting question or observation if you are thoughtful about the material you can say a lot with a few words. Also, please be kind and respectful to your fellow students do not interrupt others when they are talking, do not play with your cell phone or laptop, and do not do other work while in class (these activities may result in your professor asking you to leave the room). 2) Attendance and Lateness Your presence in class is mandatory. I will take attendance every class meeting. If you are absent three times, these three absences will not adversely affect your grade. If you are absent more than three

2 times, you will lose two points from your final grade for each additional absence. For example, if you were absent five times, and have a 90 (which is an A-, see below), your grade will be reduced to an 86 (B). There are extreme circumstances under which absences are unavoidable; these are rare, and you must prove to me that they have occurred in your case. I am not easily persuaded. The best way to do well in this course is to show up to every class, prepared and attentive. Inevitably, at the end of the semester, students who missed classes do poorly and are baffled by their low grades, while students who show up consistently do well. The attendance policy starts today. In addition, please be on time for class. If you are late, enter quietly and pay attention to the conversation before jumping in. 3) Academic Integrity I expect that the work you complete for this course will be your own, which is to say that cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any written assignment that borrows from other sources without giving proper credit or that is plagiarized in whole or in part from another source (including other students work) is grounds for an F on the assignment, or depending on the severity of the crime, is grounds for an F in the course. 4) Assignment Guidelines Any assignment you hand in for this class must be typed. I do not accept hand-written material. Also, I will not accept any late assignments unless you have contacted me before class to explain why you cannot hand the assignment in on time. You are allowed (and encouraged) to turn in assignments electronically. If you decide to do this, please use the following guidelines: email the assignment to me (before the beginning of class) as an attached word document and pasted into the body of the message. Also, be sure that your name is on the document and appears someplace in the name of the document. If you choose to email me your assignment, it will be graded and returned to you electronically. In the rare case that you had a problem printing the assignment before class, let me know during class and you may email a copy to me within 12 hours of the end of class with no penalty. Required Texts and Readings: There is a course packet available at the bookstore, as well as Speaking into the Air by John Peters. You are required to purchase these two items. We will stick to the schedule on this syllabus closely, and I expect you to have read the material assigned for each week carefully. Completing the assigned readings in a timely and intellectually invested manner is critical for success in this class. Assignments: 1) Think Questions On four occasions throughout the semester (dates identified on the course schedule) I will ask you to write a 1-2 page response to a specific question I pose about the readings. I will ask the question at the end of class about the following weeks readings, and the following week you will turn in

3 your answer. Each think question will be graded on a scale of 0-5 (due dates: September 20th, October 4th, October 25th, and November 15th). Worth a total of 20% of your final grade. 2) Exegeses An exegesis is a short explanation of a passage from a text. It involves the personal interpretation of a part of the reading, and an explanation of why that passage is important in the reading and for philosophies of communication. The style of the exegeses will differ from student to student but there are some general guidelines to follow that we will discuss in class. You will do two exegeses throughout the term, each 4-6 pages long (due dates: October 11th and November 22nd). Each exegesis will be graded on a scale of 0-25, and worth a total of 50% of your final grade. 3) Final Exam There will be a take-home final exam that I hand out on the last day of class and that you will hand back to me by December 14th. The exam will be open book and open notes, and it will consist of several essay questions. It will be graded on a scale of 0-30 and worth 30% of your final grade. 4) Grading You can score a total of 100 possible points for the semester. Based on the number of points you score out of 100, I will assign letter grades according to the following scale: 100-97 = A+ 86-84 = B 73-70 = C96-94 = A 83-80 = B69-67 = D+ 93-90 = A79-77 = C+ 66-64 = D 89-87 = B+ 76-74 = C 63-60 = D-

Course Schedule: Tuesday, September 6th Introduction to Course, overview of Syllabus, Platos Phaedrus and the problem of communication. Thursday, September 8th A History of the Idea of Communication: Overview and Introduction Reading: John Peters, Speaking into the Air (Introduction, pp. 1-31) Central Questions: What has communication signified in the past? What have been the major theoretical debates about communication from the last hundred years? What does Peters mean by the technical and therapeutic senses of communication?

4 Week Two: Tuesday, September 13th and Thursday, September 15th A History of the Idea of Communication, Part I Reading: John Peters, Speaking into the Air (Chapter 1, pp. 33-62 and Chapter 3, pp. 109-135) Central Questions: What is the difference between dialogue and dissemination? Is authentic communication possible? What role does interpretation play in communication? What is the Jesus model of Communication? The Socrates model? The Hegel model? The Marx model? The Kierkegaard model? What ties all of these different models together? Week Three: Tuesday, September 20th and Thursday, September 22nd A History of the Idea of Communication, Part II Reading: John Peters, Speaking into the Air (Chapter 4, pp. 137-176, Chapter 6, pp. 227-261, and Conclusion, pp. 263-271). Central Questions: How can all modern communication be conceptualized as a form of communication with the dead? How do machines change our conception of communication? What role does touch play in our conceptions of communication and why is touch so critically important for Peters? ***First think question due, 9/20 Week Four: Tuesday, September 27th and Thursday, September 29th The Sophists and Rhetorical Communication Reading: Gorgias, On the Nonexistent (course packet) Protagoras, Great Speech (course packet) Mark Backman, Sophistication, pp. 3-28. Central Questions: What is rhetorical communication from the perspective of the sophists? What are the epistemological and ontological implications of the sophists conception of communication as rhetoric?

5 Week Five: Tuesday, October 4th and Thursday, October 6th Pragmatism, Community Life, and Communication Reading: John Dewey, Search for the Great Community, from The Public and Its Problems, pp. 151-184 and 204-219. James Carey, A Cultural Approach to Communication, from Communication as Culture, pp. 13-35. Central Questions: What is the connection between communication, culture, and community? Why is communication important for democracy, according to Dewey? What is the ritual form of communication, according to Carey and why is it important? ***Second Think Question Due, 10/4 Week Six: Tuesday, October 11th and Thursday, October 13th The Triumph of the Therapeutic Reading: Erich Fromm, The Art of Listening, pp. 70-89, 96-107, and 188-193. Carl Rogers, To Be that Self which One Truly Is: A Therapists View of Personal Goals, pp. 163-181. Carl Rogers, A Tentative Formulation for a General Law of Interpersonal Relationships, pp. 338-346. Central Question: What vision of communication underlies the model of therapy espoused by Freud and Fromm? How do we practice an art of listening and how would that change our ability to communicate? What is the difference between Rogers view of therapy and Freuds/Fromms? How is the self affected by communicative practice? What is Rogers general law of interpersonal relationships? ***First Exegesis Due, 10/11 Week Seven: Tuesday, October 18th and Thursday, October 20th Self and Other: The Existential Problem Reading: Jean-Paul Sartre, The Look: The Existence of Others, from Being and Nothingness, pp. 341-400.

6 Central Questions: How does the look from an other affect us? What kind of communication is possible from Sartres perspective? What does nonverbal communication teach us about our being? Week Eight: Tuesday, October 25th and Thursday, October 27th Reflections on Language, part I Reading: Georges Gusdorf, Speaking (la parole), pp. 47-108. Central Questions: According to Gusdorf, what role does language play in communication? Is authentic communication possible and what does it look like? ***Third Think Question Due, 10/25 Week Nine: Tuesday, November 1st and Thursday, November 3rd Reflections on Language, part II Reading: Jacques Derrida, The End of the Book and the Beginning of Writing, from Of Grammatology, pp. 3-44. Central Questions: What is the difference between Gusdorf and Derrida? What kind of philosophy of communication does Derrida advance given his position on writing? What is differance and how does it effect communication? Week Ten: Tuesday, November 8th and Thursday, November 10th Communication, Democracy, and Public Argument Reading: Jurgen Habermas, Intermediate Reflections: Social Action, Purposive Activity, and Communication, from A Theory of Communicative Action, pp. 273-337. Central Questions: How does Habermass vision of communication differ from Derridas? What is the connection between communication and reason and how does that connection condition the possibility for democratic politics?

7 Week Eleven: Tuesday, November 15th The Medium is the Message Readings: Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, pp.7-21 and 62-73. Central Questions: What does the medium is the message mean? How do media transform our understanding of communication? How have media helped up extend our senses? ***Please note, there will be no class on Thursday, November 17th this week. ***Fourth Think Question Due on 11/15 Week Twelve: Tuesday, November 22nd and Thursday, November 24th Reflections on Mediation Reading: Jean Baudrilliard, The Implosion of Meaning in the Media, pp. 95-110. Jean Baudrilliard, Simulacra and Simulations, pp. 166-182. Jean Baudrilliard, The Masses: The Implosion of the Social in the Media, pp. 207-219. Central Questions: What effect does mediation have on communication? What are media and how do they constitute a different kind of communication? How does Baudrilliards vision of communication compare or contrast with earlier notions of interpersonal communication? ***Second Exegesis Due, 11/22 Week Thirteen: Tuesday, November 29th and Thursday, December 1st Reflections on Conversation Reading: Cyril Welch, Talking, from Philosophy and Rhetoric, pp. 216-235. Central Questions: What is the difference between talking to and talking with? Do these two versions of conversation present regulative ideals for interpersonal communication? Are they realistic? TAKE-HOME FINAL DUE by 5:00, Wednesday, December 14th