The modeling theory of aggressive behavior being promoted by violence on television points to more serious implications, that is, the molding of a national consciousness laden with 19th century values and stereotypical characterizations of reality. Since students are not taught how to watch television, they use it as a perception of reality.…

Rhetorical theorists since Socrates have advocated a rhetoric that reveals truth and avoids concealment. This tradition rests, however on the questionable epistemological assumptions that data exist prior to the linguistic formualtion of them and that such data can be articulated in objectively verifiable discourse. In opposition to this point of…

Decisive changes in the history of rhetoric occurred with the publication of Francis Bacon's "Advancement of Learning" and "De augmentis scientiarum" and "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes. Bacon and Hobbes responded to the problem of eloquence common to scientists in the early seventeenth century, which centered on three…

The counterplan is a recent strategy used in debate whereby the negative team can urge adoption of a new policy rather than defend the status quo. This paper isolates some of the requirements for a debate counterplan, discusses its strategic implications, and describes three conditions which debate theorists define as necessary for a valid…

The idea that rhetoric might operate in epistemologically significant ways was first presented by Plato. This paper argues that the heart of Plato's conception of epistemic discourse is a recognition of the centrality of intrapersonal rhetoric. Through a careful study of Platonic writing, particularly the "Phaedrus," three principal…

The rhetorical aspects of psychotherapeutic theory may be examined by arranging the canons of rhetoric, the sources of persuasion, and some procedures of rhetorical behavior on one axis of a grid, then placing rhetorical/therapeutic situations on the other axis of the grid. In this way, the degree to which a rhetoric is used in psychotherapeutic…

Intercollegiate forensics training and experience are no longer relevant, nor do they provide a useful service for the particpant. The irresponsibility of contemporary forensics has taken three forms: unbelievable growth in the number of forensic tournaments and events, the inclusion of too many individual and impromptu events, and an orientation…

A path model was developed to assess the effects of early campaign cognitions and attitudes on media use and interpersonal communication, subsequent cognitions, attitudes, and vote. Two interpretations of possible outcomes were postulated: agenda setting, and uses and gratifications. It was argued that an agenda-setting interpretation would be…

Concludes that cigarette advertising both exploits and creates popular culture, and that the popular culture is intimately tied to the cognitive and affective mechanisms of people. Available from: Editor, Journal of Popular Culture, University Hall, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403. (RB)

Argues that the majority of the voting public is only vaguely aware of the vast resources and professional expertise marshalled to persuade voters, and presents the 1972 Presidential campaign as an example. See CS 702 316 for availability information. (RB)

The recent innovation of adapting the debate to the judge's preferred philosophy appears to have been supplanted by a converse trend: advocates now attempt to force the judge to adopt the paradigm dictated by the strategies of the debate round. The existence of such a widespread dispute over the appropriate decision making system in debate…

Student interest in individual events in intercollegiate forensics competition is on the rise in the United States. Not only does the individual events tournament format reward depth of analysis, it also rewards students' abilities to transfer their critical insights into appropriate physical and vocal cues. The individual events tournament…

Emphasizing the need for sound logic in the decision making and policy making process, this paper equates the concept of rationality with the universal audience as a means of analyzing argument, evaluating rhetoric, and persuading audiences. The paper argues that the policy systems paradigm most approximates this objective within the context of…

The 16 articles in this journal issue identify and assess change and constants in intercollegiate forensics during the decade of the 1970s. The articles give varying perspectives on the significance of the decade and the topics range from concern for tenure for the debate coach to the formats of argumentation theory within the debates themselves.…

Although Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican Ronald Reagan appealed to many of the same basic American values in the 1980 presidential campaign debate, there were some subtle but major differences in their value appeals. Other than attempting to convince his audience that his policies had been and would be successful and that Reagan's policies…