Designed to introduce students to the academic discipline of Communication, Boxing Plato's Shadow describes
the scope and methods of communication studies, and sketches its history from the work of the early sophists to
contemporary research efforts. The authors address the subject inclusively, arguing that communication studies
is a sound social science, a humanity, and a practical art. Discussions of methods are balanced, including quantitative
and qualitative social science, and modern and postmodern critical approaches. Boxing Plato's Shadow helps explain
why, despite its long and venerable history of scholarly endeavor, Communication continues to struggle for recognition
of its legitimate place in the academy. Throughout, the authors emphasize the field's durability over more than
two millennia and the merits of multiple systematic approaches to the study of communication.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. The Beginning of Communication Study
The Beginning of Communication Study, A Market for Communication Knowledge and Skill, The Sophists, Plato's
Shadow, Aristotle's Resolution, Boxing Plato's Shadow, Contributions of Plato and Socrates to the Study of Communication
Chapter 2. Communication Study from Aristotle's Time to the 20th Century
Rhetoric in Egypt and Rome, Rhetoric in Christian Europe, The Contribution of the Moors, Humanism, the Renaissance
and the Printing Press, The Enlightenment and the Modern Concept of Communication, New Relevance for Rhetoric in
England and the New World, Elocution, A Changing Academic World and the Birth of a New Discipline
Chapter 3. Humanistic Study of Communication in the 20th Century
Rhetorical Scholarship and the Practical Art of Speech, The Neo-Aristotelian Approach, A Broader Scope of Communication
Study, The Neo-Aristotelian Legacy, New Foundations for Contemporary Rhetorical Scholarship, Hermeneutics, Dramatism,
Critical Theory, Postmodernism, Epistemics, Rhetorical Scholarship Today, Summary
Chapter 4. The Emerging Social Science of Communication
Social Science, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Social Science, Quantitative Research, Qualitative Research,
Summary: The Nature of Social Science, Foundations of Social Science and Communication Study in the 19th Century,
Early Scientific Study of Communication: 1920s-1940s, Communication Research and World War II, The Growth of Communication
Science after the War, Integrating Speech and Communication Study, Recent Trends in Communication Study, Summary
Chapter 5. Communication Study Today and Tomorrow
Challenges Facing Social Scientists, Challenges Facing Humanist Scholars, The Challenge of Changing Technology,
Areas of Specialization in Communication Research, Communication Study as Interdisciplinary Scholarship, Enduring
Issues Confronting our Field, Communication Study and You
