Abstract

This interdisciplinary dissertation examines the relationship between philosophical hermeneutics and composition pedagogy. It concludes that Hans-Georg Gadamer's theories of understanding and language offer an ideal epistemological foundation for composition praxis. ;Part one sketches the recent history of composition studies, paying special attention to its interactions with other disciplines. It then examines three definitions of epistemology, including one classical and one post-modern description, and observes numerous structural connections between epistemology and composition studies. A detailed study of the historical relations between the two disciplines reveals common origins and purposes, a period of divergence and a recent renewal of interest on the part of philosophers in rhetoric. Part one concludes by proposing to examine the relations of the two disciplines from the perspective of composition studies. ;Because Ann Berthoff was one of the first compositionists to write about the connections between philosophy and composition, and because her work is still the most developed philosophically-based pedagogy extant, part two examines her composition pedagogy in detail. It begins by detailing the nearly universal respect and admiration accorded her work within composition studies and the odd silence surrounding it. The following two chapters review her philosophy and pedagogy of composition, stressing their exceptionally high degree of integration. Both chapters emphasize the advantages of that integration: unified theories of learning, knowing, interpretation and writing which emphasize the dialectical interactions of mind and language and promote a student-centered, emancipatory pedagogy based on critical thinking. The conclusion to part two indicates some weaknesses in her philosophical foundations, notably her dependence on biology and her failure to adequately recognize the social dimensions of language and understanding. ;Part three examines the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer, paying special attention to the ways their theories of being, understanding and language are grounded in history and man's social existence and their insistence on the necessity of practical application. The conclusion observes that their philosophies create an exceptionally suitable foundation for Ann Berthoffs composition pedagogy. ;Part four proposes a writing pedagogy based on the philosophies of Heidegger and Gadamer and the praxis of Ann Berthoff.