Chapter 4 "Complicating Rhetorical-Ethical Stances"

Porter takes on the common stances held by those who adopt what he calls the "liberal-individualist" position regarding internetworked writing. This chapter starts off a bit confusing, as Porter refers to cases he has not introduced yet (contributing to the nonlinear, hypertext feel of the book). At this point it becomes clearer that these issues cannot be presented in a tidy linear fashion: the issues involved with internetworked writing require a pendulous consideration of issues, a dynamic between ethics and rhetoric that he takes as the focus of his book.

Porter returns to the earlier discussion of liberation theology and develops a companion discussion with communal ethics, all toward the composition of a "postmodern map" of the various ethical positions to assert that there indeed are alternatives to the liberal-individualist position that he sees as a dominant force. By mapping the possibilities, Porter can then work with and within them in Chapters 6 and 7.

Main Page | Porter's Previous Work | Guiding Questions | Rhetorical Ethics | Internetworked Writing | Internetworked Classroom | Shaping a Future Ethics Table of Contents | Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7