%0 Journal Article %1 doi:10.1080/15358593.2014.986876 %A Catt, Isaac E. %D 2014 %I Routledge %J Review of Communication %K humanities methodology phenomenology philosophy %N 3-4 %P 201-228 %R 10.1080/15358593.2014.986876 %T The Two Sciences of Communication in Philosophical Context %U https://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2014.986876 %V 14 %X Two claims are at stake for a science of communication. This essay brings into focus the philosophical distinctions between the human science of communication and the social science of communication. Social science is argued to be the dominant paradigm in mainstream communication inquiry in the United States. Its underlying basis is information theory. Communicology is a human science that differs from social science in that it focuses not on the message but rather the cultural-semiotic constraints on embodied phenomenological experience. This is a unique human science approach. The grounds for comparison are located in the history of these contrasting views and in their problematic concerns. American pragmatism and social psychology are depicted as analogous to European philosophy and the Geisteswissenschaften. As this essay argues, the human science of embodied discourse is historically rooted in semiotics and phenomenology and lead to a synthesis in contemporary communicology. Communicology is distinguished from cultural studies, and a vision for the future discipline is advanced.

@article{doi:10.1080/15358593.2014.986876, abstract = {Two claims are at stake for a science of communication. This essay brings into focus the philosophical distinctions between the human science of communication and the social science of communication. Social science is argued to be the dominant paradigm in mainstream communication inquiry in the United States. Its underlying basis is information theory. Communicology is a human science that differs from social science in that it focuses not on the message but rather the cultural-semiotic constraints on embodied phenomenological experience. This is a unique human science approach. The grounds for comparison are located in the history of these contrasting views and in their problematic concerns. American pragmatism and social psychology are depicted as analogous to European philosophy and the Geisteswissenschaften. As this essay argues, the human science of embodied discourse is historically rooted in semiotics and phenomenology and lead to a synthesis in contemporary communicology. Communicology is distinguished from cultural studies, and a vision for the future discipline is advanced. }, added-at = {2020-02-02T02:20:27.000+0100}, author = {Catt, Isaac E.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/20d532753f1c92ce3b3ebc6992c1e82ff/jpooley}, doi = {10.1080/15358593.2014.986876}, eprint = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2014.986876}, interhash = {39a5f97bd2fb3400f1c5c4b709823adc}, intrahash = {0d532753f1c92ce3b3ebc6992c1e82ff}, journal = {Review of Communication}, keywords = {humanities methodology phenomenology philosophy}, number = {3-4}, pages = {201-228}, publisher = {Routledge}, timestamp = {2020-02-02T02:20:27.000+0100}, title = {The Two Sciences of Communication in Philosophical Context}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15358593.2014.986876}, volume = 14, year = 2014 }