Ong’s Ramus: Origins and Implications of the Decline of Agonistic Practice

Abstract

Through the work of Walter Ong, this project examines how shifting educational priorities and new ways of managing information have contributed to the decline of agonistic practices. Specifically, the spread of vernacular education and the spread of visual methodization of language, developed by Peter Ramus, contributed to this decline. Ramist method elevated dialectic above rhetoric, lessening the need to engage in verbal “combat” to determine meaning or build consensus. Ong’s work reminds us that agonistic challenges can help us to explore ambiguity and enhance mutual understanding without the necessity of achieving definitional certainty.

Keywords:

• Agonistic
• Dialectic
• Peter Ramus
• Ramist Method
• Rhetoric
• Walter Ong

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For more on the spread of Ramism see Ong’s chapter on the diffusion of Ramism in Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue and Freedman (1993), “The Diffusion of Writings of Petrus Ramus in Central Europe.” The transmission and adoption of Ramus’ rhetoric and dialectic happened over the course of a century or more and was influenced by myriad factors including the intellectual, cultural, and religious practices of the time, as well as the exile of French Huguenots who settled in communities throughout Europe.

2. Overt discussion of the value of rhetoric as more than ornamentation can also be found in Walter Ong’s (1958) Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue, (1982) Orality and Literacy and (1967) The Presence of the Word. See also Jacques Ellul (1985), The Humiliation of the Word and Neil Postman (1992), Technopoly.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melinda Farrington

Melinda Farrington is an assistant professor of communication at Saint Vincent College in Pennsylvania. Prior to earning her Ph.D. in rhetoric from Duquesne University she led public relations initiatives for organizations in both the non-profit and private sectors, as well as leading their rebranding initiatives. She has in-depth marketplace experience in crisis communication, fundraising communication, media relations and special events. Her research interests include studying the intended and unintended consequences of communication technologies, communication ethics and organizational communication with particular focus on issues of equity and inclusion.