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Thesis-2003D-K89u.Pdf (2.668Mb) UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY MORE CRITICALLY AS A MANIFESTATION OF HUMAN VALUES IN TECHNOLOGIZED RHETORICAL SUBDISCIPLINES By DENNY B. KRAMER Bachelor of Arts Baylor University Waco, Texas 1993 Master of Arts Baylor University Waco, Texas 1996 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August, 2003 UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY MORE CRITICALLY AS A MANIFESTATION OF HUMAN VALUES IN TECHNOLOGIZED RHETORICAL SUBDISCIPLINES Thesis Approved: Thesis Adviser 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and inspiration of numerous people. I wish first to thank the members of my dissertation committee for their advice. Thank you Drs. Melissa Ianetta, Marilyn Kletke, Denise Tillery, and Tom Warren for your insights and guidance. Also, thank you Drs. William Decker, Kyle Glover, Elizabeth Grubgeld, Edward Jones, and Ravi Sheorey for your contributions as excellent teachers and mentors. My friends and family have been wonderfully supportive and helpful. Thank you to my Mom, Margaret Kramer, and to my in-laws, James and Peggy Seay, for your constant support. And, to the person who most shared in the excitement, joy, and agony of this endeavor-my wife, Deanne, who has helped, encouraged, and inspired me to reach this goal. 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page CHAPTER 1 .............................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 How this dissertation is organized ............................................................................ 12 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................ 21 REVISITING THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE ACADEMIC HUMANITIES ........................................................................................ 21 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 21 Humanism, Rhetoric, Technology: Describing and Positing Intersections .............. 32 Pragmatism and Techno-rhetoric:_Rediscovering a Humanism of Consequence ..... 42 Redefining the Role of Technology in the "Humanistic" ......................................... 45 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................ 50 HUMANISM AND TECHNOLOGY: FINDING A ROLE FOR TECHNOLOGY IN AN IDEOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 50 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 50 Defining Territory: A Clarification of Terms ........................................................... 54 Humanism and the Emergence of Man ..................................................................... 59 American Humanism: Humanist Manifestos and the Manifestation of Humanity ... 63 Humanistic Irony-A Disjointed Worldview ........................................................... 74 CHAPTER 4 ............................................................................................................................ 80 TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION AND THE HUMANISTIC: MAPPING HISTORY AND SEEKING TRUTH ........................................................................... 80 Early Engineering and the Need for Humanities ...................................................... 85 Antifoundationalism and the New Humanistic Elements ......................................... 96 Criticisms of Rhetoric as Humanistic ...................................................................... 105 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... I 08 CHAPTER 5 .......................................................................................................................... 113 MAKING A CASE FOR HUMANISTIC STATUS: RECONCILING COMPUTERS AND WRITING WITH TRADITION ........................................................................ 113 Phase I: Fear and Loathing in the English Department.. ......................................... 117 Phase II: Constructing a Humanistic Character in the Postmodern, Politicized English department .................................................................................................. 132 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 142 CHAPTER 6 .......................................................................................................................... 147 THE IRONIC CHALLENGE OF MAKING A SPACE FOR TECHNOLOGY IN TECHNOLOGIZED RHETORICAL SUBDISCIPLINES ........................................ 147 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 14 7 "Instrumental" Discourse and its Link toTechnology ............................................ 152 Pragmatic Reassessment of the "Two Cultures" ..................................................... 157 Merrill Whitbum and Rhetorical Scope: Reconsidering Whitbum's Expansion Plans ................................................................................... 166 Whitbumian Implications and the Reorganization of Humanistic Argument in Technologized Rhetorical Disciplines .................................................................... 172 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 184 iv CHAPTER 7 .......................................................................................................................... 189 CONCLUSION: FINDING POWER IN A PRAGMATIC, TECHNOLOGY- INCLUSIVE HUMANITIES ...................................................................................... 189 Taking Responsibility for Technology: Swapping Despair for Hope ..................... 191 Locating a Role for the Technologized Rhetorical Subdisciplines in an Alternative English department. .............................................................................. 192 Illustrations: Putting Technology in the Midst.. ...................................................... 198 Future Research Directions ..................................................................................... 199 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 205 V NOMENCLATURE Pragmatism Philosophy that invites us to test, to revise according to current conditions, and to evaluate consequences. The main tenets of pragmatism include a belief in human evolution, in democratic processes, in problem-solving, and in the improvement of society through education. English department The traditional administrative unit which includes literature, creative writing, and composition studies. Technologized rhetorical "Technologized" because of each subdiscipline's connection subdisciplines (technical to technology, and "technologized rhetorical subdisciplines" communication, provides a term linking technical communication and computers and writing) computers and writing according to their respective willingness to see technology and rhetoric "together." Both are marked by an interesting and complicated relationship to the "humanistic" and the "technological," respectively, and the continued implicit and explicit recognition of the "two cultures" Snow described nearly fifty years ago. Rhetoric Classical rhetoric as found in Aristotle treated all the elements of the rhetorical situation: interlocutor, audience, reality, and language. This version of rhetoric insisted that all are inevitably involved in the rhetorical act and so must be considered in pedagogy. Technology Technological discoveries have vastly accelerated new modes of communication worldwide. In addition to the benefits of telephone, fax, radio, TV, and satellite transmission, computer technology has radically transformed all aspects of socioeconomic life. Few offices or homes in the developed world is untouched by the information revolution. The Internet and the World Wide Web have made possible instant communication almost everywhere on the globe. Vl CHAPTER 1 Introduction Both technical communication and computers and writing scholars have, since the inception of each discipline, held technology in a central position when working to define the discipline; indeed, both disciplines are largely organized around various technologies. Because of that focus, scholars in both disciplines have found themselves at odds with colleagues in other disciplines in the academy-especially disciplines like traditional literary studies and rhetorical studies. At issue is the question of how a discipline that features technology can be considered humanistic. The quintessential discussion of this seeming conflict appears in C.P. Snow's Two Cultures. As he notes there, the "cultures" of science and technology and the arts and humanities, respectively, read the world in two separate ways, two separate languages that seem to be equally inaccessible to each other. One important result of this mutual effort to obfuscate is the disinterested stance each culture often takes with
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