DIONYSIUS,DERRIDA, AND THE CRITIQUE OF “ONTOTHEOLOGY”

This essay explores Dionysius' work in light of the critique of ontotheology, focusing on Jacques Derrida's work on justice and the messianic. Ultimately, it suggests that the extent to which Dionysius troubles the ontotheological waters depends on the status of hierarchical and teleological relationships in Dionysius. Does hierarchy for Dionysius function strictly “vertically,” bringing a few chosen souls into union with God, or does it also establish ethical relations between and among creatures? And does the via negativa, as Derrida suggests, draw the soul along a pre‐determined path from hyperessence to hyperessence, or might it remain sufficiently indeterminate to welcome the unimaginable?     

THE CONCEPTUAL DOMAIN OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION BEHAVIOR: A FACTOR-ANALYTIC STUDY

A provisional taxonomy of interpersonal behavior, ordered as a circumplex, was empirically derived from both the phenomenological and public communication ratings of subjects. At both levels, ratings were most prominently influenced by a Control dimension, made up of the perceptions of socially undesirable behaviors. The circular arrangements of the variables showed that a gap existed in the active and passive affective quadrants. It was suggested that revision of the IBI incorporate the affective dimensions associated with the findings of interpersonal competence research and that communication researchers give appropriate emphasis to the affective domain of interpersonal behavior.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL GENDER ORIENTATION AND COMMUNICATOR STYLE

Psychological gender orientation (Bern, 1974) was examined to determine whether this orientation has demonstrable effects on perceived communicator style in an interpersonal context. No such effects were observed, although communication apprehension and shyness were found to predict perceived communicator style. Gender orientation was found to predict self-reported communicator style, but communication apprehension and shyness were found to remove virtually all of that predictive power when entered into the analysis. It is concluded that gender orientation probably should not receive primary attention from researchers in interpersonal communication. The Communicator Style Measure (CSM; Norton, 1978) is examined. It is recommended that interpersonal communication researchers avoid use of the CSM until such time as problems of reliability, response bias, and external validity are overcome.