While Nietzsche is well known for his writings on a variety of topics, he is not typically cited in the literature on communication, whether by those conducting research from the perspective of communication theory or by those who are more interested in the philosophy of communication. The reason for this lacuna in the scholarship might easily be that his scattered and infrequent writings do not constitute a substantial basis for any kind of critical engagement. This article will show that by (...) bringing together these writings into a coherent and unified account, Nietzsche’s philosophy of communication provides a number of interesting and controversial insights. This will entail a reconstruction of his views on both linguistic and nonlinguistic communication so as to demonstrate the continuity of his thinking on communication throughout his corpus. I will show that Nietzsche is fundamentally committed to the thesis of communication (non-verbal and verbal) as the medium for self-expression and that, given his emphasis on the expressive dimension of communication, mutual understanding can only succeed within a form of life or shared context. (shrink)

While Nietzsche is well known for his writings on a variety of topics, he is not typically cited in the literature on communication, whether by those conducting research from the perspective of communication theory or by those who are more interested in the philosophy of communication. The reason for this lacuna in the scholarship might easily be that his scattered and infrequent writings do not constitute a substantial basis for any kind of critical engagement. This article will show that by (...) bringing together these writings into a coherent and unified account, Nietzsche’s philosophy of communication provides a number of interesting and controversial insights. This will entail a reconstruction of his views on both linguistic and nonlinguistic communication so as to demonstrate the continuity of his thinking on communication throughout his corpus. I will show that Nietzsche is fundamentally committed to the thesis of communication (non-verbal and verbal) as the medium for self-expression and that, given his emphasis on the expressive dimension of communication, mutual understanding can only succeed within a form of life or shared context. (shrink)

Augustine’s Confessions has been traditionally considered one of the founding texts in the genre of autobiographical writings. It belongs, in particular, to those specific autobiographical writings that their authors feel the need to write so as to defend their reputation, in the face of their critics. As part of their defence, what becomes important for these texts is that they communicate the truths of their authors. The problem in the case of the Confessions is that a number of scholars challenge (...) Augustine’s truth claims by portraying him in a less sympathetic light. Given these challenges, an alternative way of reading the text is to displace the focus of the reading from that of its author to the effects the text is intended to have upon its readers. In this way, the Confessions is read as a narrative that aims to convert its readers towards the Christian vision of salvation which Augustine, as a rhetorician, crafts using a number of episodes that his readers can identify with. These episodes drawn from everyday life are deployed so as to depict universal existential situations with the ultimate purpose of enabling his readers to realize that Christian salvation is attainable for all, irrespective of their failings. (shrink)

Analyzes the dynamics involved in the act of communication in order to highlight its context of production, reception, and effects, providing a framework for an analysis of selected theorists on the concept of communication.