Universal Audience Research Articles

Generative AI and Argument Creativity

Generative AI appears to threaten argument creativity. Because of its capacity to generate coherent texts, individuals are likely to integrate its ideas, and not their own, into arguments, thereby reducing their creative contribution. This article argues that this view is mistaken—it rests on a misunderstanding of the nature of creativity. Within arguments, creative and critical thinking cannot be separated. Because creativity is enmeshed with skills such as analysis and evaluation, the use of generative AI in the construction of arguments, especially in the role as universal audience, has the potential to heighten, not diminish argument creativity.

Adapting a selective parent-focused child sexual abuse prevention curriculum for a universal audience: A pilot study.

Parents are an obvious, but underutilized player in the prevention of child sexual abuse (CSA). A handful of universal parent-focused prevention programs have emerged, however, the evidence for these programs is mixed and the programs suffer ubiquitously from barriers to implementation (e.g., poor engagement, low participation) thereby limiting public health impact. To combat these barriers and improve evidence, researchers previously developed and tested a selective parent-focused CSA prevention program. While promising, the selective approach still leaves a gap in the prevention landscape-parents from the universal audience. However, there appear to be no standardized methods to inform this type of adaptation-interventions designed as universal or selective have primarily been delivered as such. This study sought to adapt the selective curriculum for a universal audience and examined the acceptability and feasibility of the program for evaluation in a future trial. Using mixed methods, N = 31 parents (i.e., primary caregiver for a child under 13) completed pre- and post-workshop surveys followed by a brief individual interview conducted via Zoom. Interviews, coded using content analysis methods, focused on three themes: parents as agents of prevention (e.g., prior action, confidence), curriculum (e.g., content, design), and engagement (e.g., future marketing and promotion). Overall participants' mean score on CSA-related awareness and intention to use protective behavioral strategies increased. The participants found the curriculum highly acceptable noting strengths in the content and design. All told, the results of this pilot study suggest the acceptability and feasibility of examining the efficacy of the universal parent-focused curriculum in a larger trial. Procedural challenges, such as bots in recruitment, identify areas of caution in design of the larger trial and a roadmap for others seeking to adapt selective programs for universal audiences.

Encouraging Awareness and Empathy for Diversity Through Experiential Practiced Simulations

This paper describes an experiential, simulation-based learning activity designed to encourage graduate education students’ development of empathy for and awareness of diverse student populations. In order to allow students to take the “role of the other,” they were placed into different situations where they had to complete a simple activity with some simulated element experienced by a different audience. Those differences included visual impairments, auditory impairments, dyslexia, and serving as English learners. The empathy activity was situated in a course that centered around designing multimedia for learning and included the instruction of the design thinking process and designing for universal audiences as well. Upon completion of the simulated experience, students reflected with the group about their thoughts, feelings, struggles, and the implications of their experience on the future of their designs in instructional technology and teacher education. Throughout this design case, we discovered that taking thoughtful design measures into consideration can help instruct challenging and difficult abstract concepts such as empathy.

The Making of Argumentation Theory: A Pragma-dialectical View

In ‘The making of argumentation theory’ van Eemeren and van Haaften describe the contributions made to the five components of a full-fledged research program of argumentation theory by four prominent approaches to the discipline: formal dialectics, rhetoric/pragmalinguistics, informal logic, and pragma-dialectics. Most of these approaches do not contribute to all components, but to some in particular. Starting from the pragma-dialectical view of the relationship between dialectical reasonableness and rhetorical effectiveness – the crucial issue in argumentation theory – van Eemeren and van Haaften explain the positions taken by representatives from the approaches discussed and indicate where they differ from the pragma-dialectical approach. It transpires that approaches focusing on dialectical reasonableness are, next to pragma-dialectics, formal dialectics and informal logic; approaches focusing on rhetorical effectiveness are, next to pragma-dialectics, rhetoric and pragmalinguistics, and the informal logician Tindale. When it comes to the relationship between dialectical reasonableness and rhetorical effectiveness, some interest in it is shown in rhetoric and pragmalinguistics, but only in pragma-dialectics and in Tindale’s work is it a real focus. The main difference between Tindale’s view and the pragma-dialectical view is that in pragma-dialectics the decisive role in deciding about reasonableness is assigned to a code of conduct for reasonable argumentative discourse and in Tindale’s approach this role is assigned to Tindale’s interpretation of the Perelmanian universal audience.

Leveraging the Full Continuum of Care to Prevent Opioid Use Disorder.

Substance use disorder prevention programs are most effective when matched appropriately to the baseline risk of the population. Individuals who misuse opioids often have unique risk profiles different from those who use other substances such as alcohol or cannabis. However, most substance use prevention programs are geared toward universal audiences, neglecting key inflection points along the continuum of care. The HEAL Prevention Cooperative (HPC) is a unique cohort of research projects that represents a continuum of care, from community-level universal prevention to indicated prevention among older adolescents and young adults who are currently misusing opioids or other substances. This paper describes the theoretical basis for addressing opioid misuse and opioid use disorder across the prevention continuum, using examples from research projects in the HPC.

Promoting a New Kind of Education: Greek and Roman Philosophical Protreptic, by Daniel Markovich

Promoting a New Kind of Education: Greek and Roman Philosophical Protreptic, by Daniel Markovich

Satire as the Comic Public Sphere: Postmodern “Truthiness” and Civic Engagement

Satire as the Comic Public Sphere: Postmodern “Truthiness” and Civic Engagement

From the Depths of the Heart. Annotated Translation of the Prayers of St. Gregory of Narek by Abraham Terian

Reviewed by: From the Depths of the Heart. Annotated Translation of the Prayers of St. Gregory of Narek by Abraham Terian Theo Maarten van Lint (bio) Abraham Terian, From the Depths of the Heart. Annotated Translation of the Prayers of St. Gregory of Narek. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press 2021. 568 pages. Hardback ISBN 978-0-8146-8464-1, 8464. US$ 49.95 E-book US$ 47.99. eISBN: 978-0-8146-8489-4, E8489 Saint Gregory of Narek (Surb Grigor Narekats‘i, ca. 945–1003) was recognised by Pope Francis as Doctor of the Church in 2015. This may prove to have been a pivotal step on the way to obtain the universal audience the Armenian monk and mystic intended for his magnum opus and final work, ninety-five penitential prayers offered to God “from the depths of the heart,” traditionally called—though not by Terian—the Book of Lamentation (Matean oghbergut‘ean), finished shortly before his death. The intended audience of the book is expressed several times in the book (Prayers 26.4, 33.2, 88.2). The earliest example, from section two of Prayer 3 is as follows:1 This newly sung book of laments is descriptive of (feelings) common to every race of rational beings, wherever they may be planted on earth, (expressed) by one aware of the passions besetting all, who, as a companion well informed of everyone’s needs, has transferred them to his own image. It is for the whole body of diverse congregations of Christians worldwide […] Upon completion of the work it was by no means a given that it would enjoy a wide circulation, including a millennial and ongoing reception history. No copy of it is known from before 1173, when Nersēs Lambronats‘i, soon to be archbishop of Tarsus, commissioned [End Page 169] it for his own use. That manuscript is now kept in the Mashtots Institute for Ancient Manuscripts, the Matenadaran in Yerevan, under siglum M1568. Having been copied for centuries, the Narek’s first partial print version appeared in Marseille in 1673 thanks to Oskan Erevants‘i, the bishop responsible for the first printed version of the Bible in Armenian, published in Amsterdam between 1666 and 1668. From then on, a steady stream followed that has only increased over time. Among Armenians the book acquired very special status. A copy of it could be found in many homes, where it might be considered a tan surb, a “Saint of the House,” believed to be endowed with special grace, revered, and kept with the greatest care. Verses from the book were worn around the neck as talismans, copies were placed on the bed of the sick in the hope of healing. The work found its way also into the Divine Liturgy and several of the daily services. It is helpful that Terian mentions these instances in his annotations. Sections six and seven of Prayer 33 were included in the Preparation for the Divine Liturgy, after the vesting and before the preparation of the gifts, as we know from Nersēs Lambronats‘i’s Commentary on the Liturgy. Terian considers it possible that this innovation was introduced by Saint Nersēs Shnorhali (1102–1173), who was strongly influenced by Saint Gregory. Less widely known perhaps is the fact that some of the prayers found their way into the Rest Hour (Hangstean Zham), the last of the Daily offices. They form one block, directly following one another, beginning with “A Powerful Supplication against the Terror of the Night” for which Prayer 12.3 and 12.4 are taken together. Here is the opening stanza: Accept kindly, mighty Lord God, the prayers of my embittered soul.Draw near with compassion to my unsightly person.Dispel, Giver of all gifts, my appalling sadness.Remove from me, merciful One, my unbearable burdens.Cast into the outer realm, resourceful One, my mortal habits.2 [End Page 170] This is followed by “A Powerful Prayer,” which gives the text of Prayer 41 in its entirety. Prayer 94, in both its parts follows as “Supplication for Protection against Demons.” The final inclusion in the Zhamagirk‘ from Grigor’s work is Prayer 80, “Entreaty to the Mother of...

Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary by Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D. V. De Silva

Reviewed by: Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary by Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D. V. De Silva Kristin J. Wendland bruce k. waltke and ivan d. v. de silva, Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021). Pp. xxviii + 472. Paper $38. In Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary, Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D. V. De Silva present a simplified and abridged version of W.'s two-volume commentary in the NICOT series (The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1–15 and The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 16–31 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004]). W. and D.S. suggest that one think of the longer, more technical work as a "massive footnote" to this abridged version (p. xv). Because of the intentional connection between the two works, I will make comparisons between them at several points throughout this review. The authors succeed well in their intention to produce a more accessible commentary for a more general audience, including students and pastors (p. xiii). For example, while the authors presume that a reader will have knowledge of terms such as LXX, Masoretic Text, and Latin Vulgate, they have, understandably, omitted much of the section on texts and versions. Some knowledge of biblical studies will assist a reader of this commentary, but the authors write in a way that will rarely overwhelm a nontechnical reader. In the introduction, the authors strike the balance particularly well between accessibility and technical detail in the sections having to do with vocabulary. The Hebrew-rich sections covering the vocabulary for wise and righteous and for wicked and fools engage the scholarly field and exemplify the careful scholarship of the authors, yet communicate in a way that a careful reader with knowledge of an English Bible will readily understand. Likewise, the authors helpfully engage, at least in broad contours, scholarship surrounding a number of central points of disagreement within the field, including interpretive possibilities [End Page 492] concerning the "Strange Woman" (ʾiššâ zārâ, pp. 55–57) and the various possible translations for ʾāmôn in Prov 8:30 (p. 163). Transliteration assists in accessibility, and the authors do an excellent job of leading a non-Hebrew reader to an understanding of how knowledge of the Hebrew aids in interpretation. Simplification and accessibility are defining characteristics of the commentary, but the authors also set out to produce an explicitly Christian work. W. and D. suggest that the clearest example of this is in the comparisons they draw between "the proverbs of Solomon and the sayings of the wise with the person and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ" (p. xiv). This section, actually entitled "The Superiority of Jesus Christ to Solomon's Wisdom," is, indeed, explicitly Christian but is also rather superfluous for understanding the Book of Proverbs, unless the title is meant to be an analogy to the subsequent argument about Woman Wisdom as a "Type of Jesus Christ" as opposed to identifying her with Christ in the way of Justin Martyr (pp. 58–61). The intended audience and the religious commitments of the authors are evident in other ways as well. For instance, they attribute the final form of the Book of Proverbs to an "inspired editor" who mediated the proverbs from their original addressees to a more universal audience (p. 9). Following this, W. and D. immediately conclude their discussion on canonization with the statement that "the Holy Spirit, through the church, then sanctioned the work as canonical" (p. 9). Whether these statements about inspiration and the Holy Spirit help or hinder the book are up to each reader, but they will certainly be more welcome in some contexts than others. More curious is that W. and D. skip over quite a bit in the discussion of canonization, including the inclusion of the Book of Proverbs in the Tanak and its continued use in Judaism. Inspired though the editor may have been, the editor was not Christian and did not hand over a book to be canonized by "the church" (p. 9). Much of the commentary section proper follows the 2004 publication in abbreviated version, with fewer notes on text-critical issues. W. and D. cite scholarship throughout this section—understandably with less detail and frequency than in...

Hollywood’s Embassies

Hollywood’s Embassies

Cartesianism, argumentation, values in the context of Chaïm Perelman’s «New Rhetoric»

The article deals with the process of founding and further development of the new rhetoric, a theory of argumentation developed by the Belgian philosopher Chaïm Perelman (1912-1984) and his co-worker Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca (1899-1987). The intellectual and philosophical backgrounds of the authors and some key characteristics of their theoretical approaches are described. The new rhetoric: (а) is primarily concerned with argument or practical reasoning, (b) suggests that figures of speech may be arguments instead of merely ornaments, (c) with its goal to influence minds, new rhetoric is a dynamic field of study, (d) it is complimentary rather than in opposition to formal reasoning. According to Perelman, the theory of argumentation conceived as a new rhetoric or dialectic, covers the whole range of discourse that aims at persuasion and conviction, whatever the audience addressed and whatever the subject matter. Perelman presents his new rhetoric as a much better form of logic than Cartesian deductive, stringent reasoning, at least where law and other values-based systems are concerned. Perelman challenged the unwholesome assumption that what we cannot know with mathematical certainly is necessarily arbitrary, irrational, and subjective. Perelman recognized "reasoned conviction" as a bridge to knowledge, although he was aware that it was a less perfect source of cognition than verified certainty. It is explained how the idea of developing the new rhetoric was born out of dissatisfaction with logical positivism or neopositivism (The Vienna Circle’s theories and ideas) and which classical and modern sources inspired the authors in developing a specific logic of value judgments that could deal with argumentation about actions, choices, decisions and without dismissing such argumentation as irrational. The rhetorical framework of the theory is expounded and an overview is provided of the key notions and concepts of Perelman’s ‘new rhetoric’ – the notions of adherence, audience (particular and universal audience), persuasion are explained. According to Perelman, the new rhetoric is based on the idea that since argumentation aims at securing the adherence of those to whom it is addressed, it is, in its entirety, relative to the audience to be influenced. Рerelman's position on the difference between formal logic and argumentation is analyzed.

The rising issue of user manual accessibility: Implications for the safe operation of Elevated Work Platforms (EWPs)

Elevated Work Platforms (EWP) have been implemented as a measure to prevent falls. However, fatalities and injuries relating to EWP use are of concern within the construction industry, with crushing risks often a significant factor in operator fatalities. With a greater number of workers using these machines internationally, it is imperative to develop policies and strategies to guarantee the safe use of EWPs. One key issue is that EWP familiarisation has been primarily centred on the user manual. However, it is unclear if user manuals are an adequate source of education and training in terms of content and readability. To address this research gap, a content analysis was used to assess the differences in content and readability among the manuals of the most used EWPs in Australia. The qualitative findings showed that there are nine safety-related themes in the user manuals, such as control warnings and in-basket safety. The quantitative analysis found that some manuals require several years of education above that recommended for a universal audience (>8 years) to be understood. This finding calls for better training and education across the range of EWP control layouts and standardisation across the methods by which the manuals convey control information to reduce the cognitive load placed on operators to remember and accurately utilise the controls of the wide variety of existing EWPs.

Is a flick-through enough? A content analysis of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) user manuals

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are being developed and installed in increasing numbers. Some of the most popular ADAS include blind spot monitoring and cruise control which are fitted in the majority of new vehicles sold in high-income countries. With more drivers having access to these technologies, it is imperative to develop policy and strategies to guarantee the safe uptake of ADAS. One key issue is that ADAS education has been primarily centred on the user manual which are not widely utilised. Moreover, it is unclear if user manuals are an adequate source of education in terms of content and readability. To address this research gap, a content analysis was used to assess the differences in ADAS-related content and readability among the manuals of the highest selling vehicles in Australia. The qualitative findings showed that there are seven themes in the user manuals: differences between driving with and without ADAS, familiarisation requirements, operational limits of the ADAS, potential ADAS errors, behaviour adaptation warnings, confusion warnings, and malfunction warnings. The quantitative analysis found that some of the manuals require several years of education above the recommended for a universal audience (>8 years) to be understood. Additionally, there is a notable number of text diversions and infographics which could make comprehension of the user manual difficult. This investigation shows that there is a lack of standardisation of ADAS user manuals (in both content and delivery of information) which requires regulatory oversight. Driver ADAS education needs to be prioritised by policymakers and practitioners as smart technology continues to increase across the transport system. It seems that current strategies based on user manuals are insufficient to achieve successful adoption and safe use of these technologies.

A Review of Parent- and Family-based Prevention Efforts for Adolescent Dating Violence.

Prevention efforts for adolescent dating violence (ADV) have largely focused on adolescent-based interventions with little emphasis on parent- and family-based interventions, despite the integral role parents serve in adolescent relationship development. This literature review provides an overview of the existing parent- and family-based intervention efforts for ADV. This review highlights that some programs are geared toward a universal audience, whereas others are more targeted towards populations believed to be at greater risk for ADV. Some programs primarily target parents, whereas others integrate parent-based components into primarily adolescent-focused or comprehensive programs. Aspects to consider when selecting a program are discussed, as well as future directions. Suggested future directions involve broadening existing parent- and family-based programming for ADV to include a focus on secondary and tertiary prevention, gender differences, and gender and sexual minorities. This review also highlights the need for existing programs to expand their evaluation of behavioral outcomes and comparison of programs to one another.

Rhetoric beyond Arguments: Thinking about the Role of Fictional Audiences in Plato’s Gorgias

Abstract In this piece, I propose a reading of Plato’s Gorgias that pays special attention to the role that the fictional audience plays in the unfolding of the dialogue. To this end, I use some of the insights that Chaïm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts–Tyteca conveyed in their seminal work, The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation in order to argue that thinking about the way in which Socrates’ arguments are shaped by the different audiences that Gorgias, Polus, and Callicles aim to address and represent provides us with a new hermeneutical understanding of what is at stake in each of the different interactions Socrates engages in throughout the dialogue. In unpacking the way in which Socrates appropriates Gorgias’ particular audience, transforms Polus’ universal audience, and challenges Callicles’ elite audience, I provide an outline of the difficulties that Plato’s Socrates has to overcome in order to achieve the ‘community of minds’ that Perelman and Olbrechts–Tyteca identify as the bedrock of fruitful argumentation. Having done this, in the last section I turn to Plato’s Phaedrus, for the purpose of making evident that thinking about Plato’s deployment of rhetorical audiences is a crucial step in the effort to expose the implicit continuity that links the discussion of rhetoric delivered by the Gorgias to that of the Phaedrus.

Benefits of Massive Open Online Course Participation: Deductive Thematic Analysis.

BackgroundMassive open online courses (MOOCs), as originally conceived, promised to provide educational access to anyone with an internet connection. However, the expansiveness of MOOC education has been found to be somewhat limited. Nonetheless, leading universities continue to offer MOOCs, including many in the health sciences, on a number of private platforms. Therefore, research on online education must include thorough understanding of the role of MOOCs. To date, studies on MOOC participants have focused mainly on learners’ assessment of the course. It is known that MOOCs are not reaching the universal audiences that were predicted, and much knowledge has been gained about learners’ perceptions of MOOCs. However, there is little scholarship on what learners themselves gain from participating in MOOCs.ObjectiveAs MOOC development persists and expands, scholars and developers should be made aware of the role of MOOCs in education by examining what these courses do offer their participants. The objective of this qualitative synthesis of a set of MOOC evaluation studies was to explore outcomes for MOOC learners, that is, how the learners themselves benefit from participating in MOOCs.MethodsTo explore MOOC learners’ outcomes, we conducted a qualitative synthesis in the form of a deductive thematic analysis, aggregating findings from 17 individual studies selected from an existing systematic review of MOOC evaluation methods. We structured our inquiry using the Kirkpatrick model, considering Kirkpatrick levels 2, 3, and 4 as potential themes in our analysis.ResultsOur analysis identified six types of Kirkpatrick outcomes in 17 studies. Five of these outcomes (learning/general knowledge, skills, attitudes, confidence, and commitment) fit into Kirkpatrick Level 2, while Kirkpatrick Level 3 outcomes concerning behavior/application were seen in four studies. Two additional themes were identified outside of the Kirkpatrick framework: culture and identity outcomes and affective/emotional outcomes. Kirkpatrick Level 4 was not represented among the outcomes we examined.ConclusionsOur findings point to some gains from MOOCs. While we can expect MOOCs to persist, how learners benefit from the experience of participating in MOOCs remains unclear.

Preliminary Remarks toward a Formal Understanding of Revolution

In this essay, Oleg Aronson proposes to view the protests of 1968 as a continuation of the social revolutionary processes initiated by the French Revolution. The author interprets revolution not as an event of historical rupture but as a process of long duration (in the sense of Fernand Braudel’s longue durée). Signs of such revolution are found beyond the regime of human perception and contemplation, beyond the categories of space and time, in the zone of common sense (sensus communis), which Kant saw in such manifestations as the enthusiasm that joins a universal audience (the public) when it is enchanted by the spectacle of revolution. The article attempts to show how, as mass society develops, the revolution shifts from action to spectacle. However, if we view mass society itself as an effect of the revolutionary process of long duration, then freedom, equality, and fraternity (commonality) turn out to be less values affirmed by revolution than invariants of a common sense, outside of which they are unthinkable and unimaginable. Being unrepresentable, they constantly receive representative equivalents, which constitute the spectacle. The author proposes to use them as social imaginaries (in the sense of imaginary numbers in mathematics), which indicate the dynamics of processes that exceed the framework of individual and historical (albeit still anthropometric) understanding. Such an analysis of revolution as a process, and not as a concrete historical event, allows us to see it less as a transformation of society than as the surmounting of the human order itself, of the world of values that are understood as immutable and whose violation always looks like lawlessness.

Hovets sofister: Diplomati, retorik och representationens problem

Rhetoric and diplomacy shares something we might call the problem of representation, arising out of the difficulties to ever accurately represent something. In the article, this joint problem is approached through an investigation into its different solutions, taking us from Plato’s and Aristotle’s critique of the sophists, through Demosthenes’ and Aeschines’ joint effort to create peace between Athens and Philip II of Macedon, to Rousseau, Kant, and contemporary scholars studying diplomatic rhetoric. In Kant’s idea of perpetual peace and Perelman’s concept of a universal audience, we eventually find what we might call modernity’s answer to this ancient problem, the acceptance of what in Hegelian parlance could be called the bad infinity of diplomatic and rhetorical communication. Finally, and by contrast, Lacan’s use of the diplomat as an illustration of the limits of representation is discussed and the possibility of avoiding the endless dialectic of trial and error is developed

Dreaming of Creativity: Imaging and Imagining the Creative Self in Memoir

Dreaming of Creativity: Imaging and Imagining the Creative Self in Memoir

Audience role in mathematical proof development

The role of audiences in mathematical proof has largely been neglected, in part due to misconceptions like those in Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca (The new rhetoric: A treatise on argumentation, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, 1969) which bar mathematical proofs from bearing reflections of audience consideration. In this paper, I argue that mathematical proof is typically argumentation and that a mathematician develops a proof with his universal audience in mind. In so doing, he creates a proof which reflects the standards of reasonableness embodied in his universal audience. Given this framework, we can better understand the introduction of proof methods based on the mathematician’s likely universal audience. I examine a case study from Alexander and Briggs’s work on knot invariants to show that we can fruitfully reconstruct mathematical methods in terms of audiences.