Cultures in conflict—a generic and axiological view

Government and poll data released in 1971 and late 1972 suggest that the nation remains culturally divided. Speech communication scholars have broadened the scope of rhetoric in order to more adequately describe, interpret, and evaluate this intensely moral or ethical conflict. The central purpose of this essay is to identify the different assumptions regarding decision‐making systems, interaction, and goals between the establishment and the counter culture which make the rhetorical conflicts so profound and inevitable. Generic and axiological methods are useful critical research tools for such an effort. The generic approach provides the foundation for viewing the establishment and the counter culture as distinct rhetorical genres. The axiological perspective distinguishes the major economic, political, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and philosophic value judgments used as premises for persuasion by each culture. Ultimately, a dialectic, rather than consensus, model would appear to be the most useful way for rhetoricians to examine such confrontations.