THE EPISTEMIC ROLE OF RHETORIC IN PRING V. PENTHOUSE (LAW, EPISTEMOLOGY, DISCOURSE)

The rhetoric-as-epistemic literature in the speech communication discipline has been criticized for two shortcomings--failure to define a stable purpose and lack of coherence and consistency. This study attempts to harmonize the literature and develop epistemic rhetorical theory suitable for pedagogical purposes.;Following the cataloguing of claims, they were tested with reference to the specific rhetoric of Pring v. Penthouse, a libel case tried in Federal court by attorney Gerry Spence and appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Based upon the case, a preferred taxonomy was developed: (1) The "flux" is nonverbal, noumenal existence; (2) "Reality" is human apprehension of the flux; (3) "Truth," although a necessary ideal for human existence, becomes plural and subject to change in everyday existence; (4) "Rhetoric" is the art of symbolic inducement; (5) "Meaning" is the process of apprehending reality; (6) "Knowledge" includes at least two aspects--the process of creating meaning and the creation of consensus, whereby the body of human knowledge is built and evolves. In addition to taxonomic categories, the processes whereby rhetoric creates knowledge that are posited by rhetorical epistemologists and borne out in the case were analyzed.;Finally, these epistemic rhetorical processes were used as the basis for developing an outline for an epistemic rhetoric that sets forth the manageable principles of symbolic inducement. The units of this rhetorical theory are: (1) the environment or rhetorical situation, including constraints on rhetoric, the audience, and the notion of reflexivity; (2) the processes of creating meaning, including the notion of giving presence and the principles of creating understanding; (3) the processes of creating consensus and building knowledge; and (4) ethics. These units represent the initial step in building a complete manageable art of rhetoric as symbolic inducement that can aid rhetors in making choices that affect the creation of certain knowledge.;The first stage of the project involves categorization of the competing rhetoric-as-epistemic claims in the literature. These claims fall into two categories--taxonomic and middle-level theory, which involves descriptions of how rhetoric operates to create knowledge.