An Elaboration of the Transformative Approach to Practical Theory: Its Connections with Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics

摘要

This article is a response to Communication Theory special issue editor Kevin Barge's (2001) call for "further conversation about practical theorizing." It provides an elaboration of the transformative approach to practical theory, foregrounding its moral-ethical dimensions. I demonstrate a connection between the stance of the transformative theorists and aspects of H. G. Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, primarily a focus on the artful cultivation and development of phronesis, or practical wisdom. Further study of this connection between the transformative theorists and Gadamer will support and extend the future theorization of the transformative approach to practical theory.