Toward a rhetorical epistemology

Abstract

This essay offers a prolegomenon for a systematic theory of rhetorical epistemology. Rather than advancing a fully‐developed theory of the epistemic function of rhetorical discourse, the authors delineate some of the important assumptions, definitions, and relationships upon which their theory is constructed. It is posited that rhetorical discourse is the description of reality through language and that knowledge is justified true belief. Examining the inherent interface between rhetoric and knowledge, the authors conclude by underscoring the differentiative, associative, preservative, evaluative, and perspective functions of epistemic discourse.