Discourse and the Two Cultures

Thousands of books offer competing explanations of the problems of communication between peoples. If there is any consensus, it is that the assumptions and presuppositions of the communicators shape and mold their conclusions. This volume aims to pose the issue through the thoughtful reflections of some of the nation's best minds. Those contributing are: Father Edward A. Malloy, President of the University of Notre Dame; Roger Shinn, former holder of the Reinhold Niebuhr chair at Union Theological Seminary and leader of Protestant thought; Dr. Joseph Fletcher, considered by many to be the father of "situation ethics;" E.D. Hirsch, author of the best-selling book, Cultural Literacy; Richard Rorty, English Professor at the University of Virginia who may be seen as a champion of trial and error, experimentation, pragmatism and empiricism; Edward Teller, a scientist sometimes called the "father of the hydrogen bomb;" Ian Craig, a rising young scholar of international relations; Martin Marty, one of the foremost scholars on the history of religion; Harold J. Berman, Woodruff Professor of Law at the Emory University School of Law; and Robert Benne, leading scholar of religion and society at Roanoke College.