Historical investigation reveals the false limits of universal communication theory

Evidence

In short, Innis provided in communication studies, at a moment when virtually no one else in the United States was doing so, a model of scholarly investigation that was historical, empirical, interpretive, and critical. His work was historical, as I have said, in the precise sense that he wanted to test the limits of theoretical work, to show the actual variations in time and space that rendered transparent the dangerous claim of universal theory. The historical imagination checked off the bias of the theoretical one. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 595

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sets out Innis’s fourfold scholarly method: historical, empirical, interpretive, critical.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 595
• XREF: connects to: Chronic interest in communication signals a derangement of its models — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 222; Improved communication technology increases misunderstanding between groups — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 640; The telegraph decisively separated communication from transportation — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 813 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Chronic interest in communication signals a derangement of its models #corroborates (0.80) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 222
• Luhmann’s systems are not naturalistic people-networks but self-referential communicative processes #complicates (0.75)
• Improved communication technology increases misunderstanding between groups #corroborates (0.70) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 640