Blog Post #2

     In chapter two, one of the concepts that was discussed is the philosophy of communication. This way of analyzing communication gives new perspective to the topic or story surrounding a particular topic.  Arnet Et Al states that “philosophy of communication can be employed in a broad sense to refer to a general way of thinking about communication, or it can refer to a particular philosophy of communication” (p. 50) I thought it was interesting how the author used baseball as a way to explain this concept. For example, one might explain the sport in purely philosophical terms, describing how the game works and what the overall objective might be. 

    On the other hand, from a perspective of philosophy and a focus on communication, the game of baseball would be explained with more emphasis on the historical context in which baseball became America’s pastime. Arnet Et Al goes on to describe how the philosophy of communication “gives life richness, depth, texture, and meaning,” due to the context and history behind the sport, as opposed to a “technical manual” (p.53) This made me think of many current examples of the importance behind the “why” in communication, as it leads us to “how” communication should therefore be applied.

    This leads me to the philosophy of communication surrounding COVID 19. Without the appropriate historical context of this situation, it would be impossible to describe what really happened and why. For example, you would most likely need an entire story surrounding the Trump presidency and the transition to Biden. Additionally, it would be important to know the racial issues that were present throughout this time to see how it all tied together.

Source: Arnett, Ronald C., et al. Communication Ethics Literacy : Dialogue and Difference, SAGE Publications, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/umn/detail.action?docID=996205.