A rhetorical approach to dream theories and dreams

Terwee

pp. 139-162

in: Terwee (ed), Hermeneutics in psychology and psychoanalysis, Berlin, Springer, 1990

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in what is called the "rhetoric of inquiry". Those who think along rhetorical lines question the absolutized dichotomy between truth and opinion they view in traditional approaches to the humanities and especially the social sciences. Rhetoricians maintain that persuasion is needed in defending any truth; we can merely aim for the plausible and the probable. Tempting visions of absolute certitudes are to be rejected in favor of modest attempts to understand the subtleties of actual argument in various disciplines.