Cracks in the Pragmatic Façade: F. C. S. Schiller and the Nature of Counter-Democratic Tendencies

The “pragmatist philosophical tradition” is often described as an American and democratic one. There are, however, a number of purposeful and/or accidental erasures in the history of pragmatism that make this tale possible; namely, the elision of pragmatism’s international cast in its formative years. This essay will focus on one of the most prominent of these forgotten figures and point out how he complicates the assumptions underlying pragmatism’s relationship to democracy. F. C. S. Schiller (1864-1937), the foremost British pragmatist of the early 1900s, championed a Jamesian approach to pragmatism. Schiller’s humanistic approach to pragmatism is all the more striking given that he championed eugenics and authoritarian governments. These two tendencies—espoused in popular and philosophical essays and books—press hard against a causal acceptance that democratic practice is warranted by pragmatism. Schiller, excised from the intellectual history of pragmatism, is relevant precisely because he provides a useful counter to those who would assume as a matter of faith that pragmatism-as-method is the best representation of democratic ideals in philosophical thought. Schiller also suggests what is to be gained by reevaluating the narratives that have allowed such generalizations to gain ground and flourish

The Repetitive Rhetoric of Miscavige’s Battle: A Preliminary Look at the Church of Scientology

The Church of Scientology is currently experiencing a rash of negative publicity regarding its belief system, organizational structure, and practices. Amidst this controversy, Ecclesiastical Leader David Miscavige has continued to make speeches celebrating the church. But he has remained notably silent regarding the challenges facing his church. This short essay aims to: (a) provide an introduction to the church, (b) examine the rhetoric of Miscavige in light of the church’s practices, and (c) offer up some initial suggestions regarding how the two can, and do, relate to each other. The tentative conclusions drawnsuggest that, at best, Miscavige is providing his followers with a positive vision of the church; at worst, his rhetoric threatens to engender more criticism and further isolate the church

F. C. S. Schiller and the Style of Pragmatic Humanism

This dissertation is a rhetorical biography of Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller (1864-1937), the foremost British proponent of pragmatism at the turn of the previous century. Beyond reconstructing the development and receptions of Schiller's thoughts, this dissertation brings the resources of rhetorical criticism to bear and focuses, in particular, on his style and its significance both in his own lifetime and afterward. While spending most of his career in England, Schiller came in his time to be one of the most widely discussed figures in what is often considered a distinctly American philosophical movement. This rhetorical biography analyzes, in chronological order, the most substantial and often contested arguments that Schiller engaged in so as to promote, first, Jamesian pragmatism and, secondly, his own pragmatic humanism. These arguments were meant to defend the principles of pragmatism and pragmatic humanism against the dominant strains of Idealism then current in both British and American philosophy. But they were also supported by reference to a wide range of topics: psychical research, formal logic, science, religion, and eugenics. This dissertation examines how Schiller's arguments exemplify the positive and negative aspects of the rhetorical category of style. More specifically, this rhetorical biography posits that Schiller's use of the stylistic figure repetition—the reiteration of key claims so as to emphasize their importance and to engage the pathos of the audience—helps to explain why Schiller is now a largely forgotten instigator of pragmatism, conceived herein as both a philosophical concept and a historical movement. This dissertation also demonstrates how traditional methods of rhetorical criticism, often focusing on the set text or oration, can be profitably extended by way of archival materials, public documents, and a focus on the range of arguments offered over the expanse of a subject's career

Promoting progress : a rhetorical analysis of college and university sexual harassment codes

This thesis is a rhetorical analysis of sexual harassment codes on college and university campuses. The situational model proposed by Lloyd Bitzer is used to examine representative artifacts from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, so as to determine whether they operate as "fitting" rhetorical responses to the situation generally and the exigence of sexual harassment specifically. The body of this analysis develops in eight stages: an introductory discussion of sexual harassment and research conducted thereon; examination of codes as ethical and situational constructs; explication of the rhetorical framework; the nature of the exigence as a historical and campus-specific imperfection; examination of the publics that create the rhetorical audience; the inartistic and artistic constraints operative within the rhetorical situation; an analysis of the two codes; and summary comments and recommendations. Within the last two sections the determinations are made that: 1) the codes do not currently function as a "fitting" response to the situation/exigence, and that 2) revisions can be made so as to promote a more pragmatic and "fitting" response to sexual harassment