An interpretive view of communication, with its philosophical assumptions about the nature of persons and the nature of communication, provides a perspective from which a variety of scholars study argumentation. In this essay, arguments supporting the value of the interpretive perspective are advanced, and criticisms of it are answered by showing how those criticisms are grounded in philosophical assumptions contrary to interpretive perspectives.
Notes
An earlier version of this paper was presented by both authors to the meeting of the Central States Speech Association, April, 1985, Indianapolis, Indiana.