6533b86ffe1ef96bd12ce68d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Political Correctness and Academic Principles: A Reply to Simpson

Hans Mathias Kepplinger

subject

Structure (mathematical logic)Linguistics and LanguageSpiral of silenceCommunicationBiographyContext (language use)Scientific theoryLanguage and LinguisticsPolitical correctnessEpistemologyLawRhetorical questionRelevance (law)Sociology

description

The author discusses Christopher Simpson's (1996) article, ‘Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's ‘Spiral of Silence’ and the Historical Context of Communication Theory.’ He questions the relevance of biographical data for the evaluation of scientific theories and methods, and analyzes the rhetorical structure of Simpson's arguments. He concludes that Simpson's claims about the influence of Noelle's biography on her scholarly work are not grounded in evidence.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1997.tb02728.x