Philosophy of Communication

Classical, modern, and contemporary philosophical writings that address the fundamental concepts of communication.To philosophize is to communicate philosophically. From its inception, philosophy has communicated forcefully. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle talk a lot, and talk ardently. Because philosophy and communication have belonged together from the beginning-and because philosophy comes into its own and solidifies its stance through communication-it is logical that we subject communication to philosophical investigation. This collection of key works of classical, modern, and contemporary philosophers brings communication back into philosophy’s orbit. It is the first anthology to gather in a single volume foundational works that address the core questions, concepts, and problems of communication in philosophical terms.

The editors have chosen thirty-two selections from the work of Plato, Leibniz, Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Lacan, Derrida, Sloterdijk, and others. They have organized these texts thematically, rather than historically, in seven sections- consciousness; intersubjective understanding; language; writing and context; difference and subjectivity; gift and exchange; and communicability and community. Taken together, these texts not only lay the foundation for establishing communication as a distinct philosophical topic but also provide an outline of what philosophy of communication might look like.

Author Biography

Briankle G. Chang is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the author of Deconstructing Communication- Representation, Subject, and Economies of Exchange.

Garnet C. Butchart is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University.

Briankle G. Chang is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the author of Deconstructing Communication- Representation, Subject, and Economies of Exchange.

Peter Sloterdijk (b. 1947) is one of the best known and widely read German intellectuals writing today. His 1983 publication of Critique of Cynical Reason (published in English in 1988) became the best-selling German book of philosophy since World War II. He became president of the State Academy of Design at the Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe in 2001. He has been cohost of a discussion program, Das Philosophische Quartett (Philosophical Quartet) on German television since 2002.