Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2007 A Narrative of Charitable Acknowledgment: Reframing Interpersonal Communication in Intimate Relationships Cory Williams Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Williams, C. (2007). A Narrative of Charitable Acknowledgment: Reframing Interpersonal Communication in Intimate Relationships (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1365 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A NARRATIVE OF CHARITABLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT: REFRAMING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION IN INTIMATE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Cory D. Williams December 2007 A NARRATIVE OF CHARITABLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT: REFRAMING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION IN INTIMATE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS By Cory D. Williams Approved November 30, 2007 __________________________________ __________________________________ Dr. Calvin Troup Dr. Janie Harden Fritz Associate Professor of Communication Associate Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies and Rhetorical Studies (Dissertation Director) (Committee Member) __________________________________ Dr. Richard Thames Associate Professor of Communication And Rhetorical Studies (Committee Member) ___________________________________ Dean Albert C. Labriola Dean, McAnulty School of Liberal Arts iii ABSTRACT A NARRATIVE OF CHARITABLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT: REFRAMING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION IN INTIMATE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS By Cory D. Williams December 2007 Dissertation Supervised by Dr. Calvin Troup No. of Pages in Text: 218 The field of interpersonal communication conducts many descriptive studies. However, guidance for healthy communication within intimate relationships is more difficult to come by—a condition stemming in part from an emotivist ethical paradigm. MacIntyre (1984) describes “emotivism” as the current state of society where individual preference serves as the ethical decision making compass. Emerging from Enlightenment scholarship (e.g., Hobbes, Rousseau, sociobiology), individual preferences have become main tenets in intimate interpersonal research. In the interpersonal theories of social exchange and goal-orientation, emotivism is encouraged in the emphasis placed on self- interest and technique. This exposes itself metaphorically through descriptions of communication as a tool, an economic bartering system, and a means of gaining emotional satisfaction. As a result, communication phenomena such as love and trust in intimate romantic relationships are difficult to express due to the difficulties self- interested language has in moving beyond the dichotomy of egoism and altruism. iv This interpretive study hopes to reinvigorate the philosophical ground for other- focused action in today’s historical moment in regard to the study of interpersonal intimate romantic relationships. To do this, communication must first be interpreted in an active paradigm. Communicative praxis (Schrag, 1986) provides the texture for this shift, describing the subject as decentered, and thus interpreted as multiple, temporal, and embodied. In the embodied connection of word to deed (the act of being to, for, and with the other), ethical conduct can be determined, thus providing ground to pose an interpretive framework for healthy romantic relationships—a narrative of charitable acknowledgment as defined in the work of Hyde, Schrag, and Augustine. The connection between charity and acknowledgment focuses on rhetorical competence, the emphasis on connecting word to deed, and the importance of will and habit. Acknowledgment serves as a hermeneutic to open up charity to a postmodern society on an axiological level, explored through transversal interpretations of faith, hope, and charity. Charitable acknowledgment, then, is the enactment (within a nexus of will, habit, and ethic) of unconditionality, sacrifice, and forgiveness. This approach to romantic relationships opens the door for new research and future discussion on the ethical implications of the narrative shift. v DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my wife and son (to-be). May we continue as wonderfully as we have begun—in charity and love. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENT When a person comes to the end of a project, it is nice to have the opportunity to thank those who have made it possible—in a project with “acknowledgment” in the title it takes even greater meaning. First of all I would like to thank Dr. Calvin Troup for directing this dissertation. His advice helped provide quality and clarity to the project where it might not have otherwise been. Additionally, Dr. Janie Harden Fritz and Dr. Richard Thames provided erudite comments which aided its completion. To those at Concord University who have endured my struggles I am appreciative of their patience. My friends Bryan Kampbell, Erik Garrett, Kelley Crowley, Kristen Lucas, and Sharron Hope provided a boost when morale was low and intellectual vigor when there was a stumbling block. This project was aided by their conversations. My parents also provided that shot in the arm when things were going tough. Most of all however, I want to thank my wife Amy who perhaps more than anyone has empathized with the frustrations and triumphs of these last two and a half years. Her patience and love is what, for me, makes charitable acknowledgment worth discussing. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract.............................................................................................................................. iv Dedication.......................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgment .............................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1: Introduction to the Problem .........................................................................1 CHAPTER 2: A History of Understanding the Fractured Individual ...............................16 Premodern Approaches to the Fractured Individual .............................................18 Plato and Eros............................................................................................19 Aristotle and Reason .................................................................................22 Augustine and Caritas ...............................................................................24 Aquinas and Reasonable Caritas................................................................37 Modern Approaches to the Fractured Individual...................................................39 From Christianity to Humanism ................................................................39 Hobbes and the Enlightenment ..................................................................42 Scientific Maintenance of Self-Interest .....................................................46 Altruism “Discovered” and the Scientific Response .................................48 Postmodern Approaches to the Fractured Individual.............................................51 Derrida and différance ...............................................................................52 Foucault and the Death of Man..................................................................59 Summary................................................................................................................62 CHAPTER 3: Interpersonal Communication and the Egoism/Altruism Dichotomy ........64 MacIntyre and Emotivism......................................................................................65 viii Social Exchange Theory ........................................................................................71 Goal-Oriented Theories.........................................................................................82 Intimacy Skills .......................................................................................................89 Technification and the Disembodied, Dis-embedded IPC Skill ................91 IPC Skills and the Criteria of Satisfaction and Effectiveness....................96 Review of the Narrative of Individualism ...........................................................100 CHAPTER 4: Active Relationships.................................................................................103 A Review of the Lessons of Modernity and Postmodernity................................104 Communication as a Function of Action .............................................................109 Word and Deed........................................................................................111 The Decentered Self.................................................................................120 Summary of Active Relationships in Interpersonal Communication ..................128 CHAPTER 5: The Narrative of Charitable Acknowledgment ........................................134 Acknowledgment in Interpersonal Communication ............................................137 Acknowledgment as Active.....................................................................137 Acknowledgment as