Defense Date

8-24-2007

Graduation Date

Fall 2007

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Communication and Rhetorical Studies

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

Ronald C. Arnett

Committee Member

Janie Harden Fritz

Committee Member

Kathleen Glenister Roberts

Keywords

Absurd, Albert Camus, Communication Ethics

Abstract

The metaphor of the absurd, as well as the work and thought of Albert Camus, has primarily served as a secondary resource within the communication discipline. This project contributes to the conversation about the absurd in an effort to further the study of communication ethics by placing Camus in the foreground. The metaphor of the absurd provides an opportunity to examine philosophical hermeneutics in relation to Camus's insights. The work of Paul Ricoeur and Hans-Georg Gadamer, emphasizing the role of metaphor and how it connects the absurd as used by Camus to our current postmodern moment, provides the methodological framework for this project. While many differences exist between the historical moment of Camus and the contemporary postmodern moment, both represent a time in which there is no longer paradigmatic certainty.

Through an exploration of Camus's three cycles of work addressing absurdity, revolt, and judgment, this project firmly places Camus's engagement within the context of the study of communication ethics. Through his implicit work as a philosopher of communication Camus provided an example of a person with deep ethical commitments who navigated through the chaos of a moment of metanarrative decline. In our own moment of narrative and virtue contention, Camus's voice should again be heard as we seek to take communicative responsibility in an age of absurdity.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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