Scholars are united by civility and conversation, not by a common ground

Evidence

The task of hermeneutics, according to Richard Rorty, is to charm hermetic- ally sealed-off thinkers out of their self-enclosed practices and to see the relations among scholars as strands of a conversation, a conversation without presuppositions that unites the speakers, but “where the hope of agreement is never lost so long as the conversation lasts” (Rorty, 1979: 318). On this view scholars are not locked in combat over some universal truth but united in society: “persons whose paths through life have fallen together, united by civility rather than by a common goal, much less a common ground” (p. 318). — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 333

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Rorty’s hermeneutic ideal for scholarly community as conversation united by civility rather than common ground.
• XREF: Connects to Rorty’s Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, foundational to the interpretive turn in communications theory. — connects to: Scholarship is a civil conversation rather than a contest over truth — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 333; Collective intellectual work requires respectful dialogic engagement to manage conflicting perspectives; Participants must be open to welcoming different and even conflicting ideas and perspectives — Dialogic space: An introduction (+3 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 333

Broader Connections

• Scholarship is a civil conversation rather than a contest over truth #expands (0.85) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 333
• Collective intellectual work requires respectful dialogic engagement to manage conflicting perspectives #corroborates (0.75)
• Communal philosophy need not imply unanimous belief among members #corroborates (0.55)