Privatio Dialogus: Toward a Phenomenology of Aloneness for the Philosophy of Communication

<p>The intent of this dissertation is to utilize the phenomenological method to elucidate the experience of aloneness and its relationship with human communication. Aloneness, for the purposes of this research, is understood as the broad experience of feeling alone. This dissertation first seeks to understand some essential principles of previous interdisciplinary literature on this topic before establishing a typology of experiences of aloneness, including isolation, escapism, and solitude. I present a phenomenology of each of these types of aloneness through a representative philosopher for each one, with Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas, and Henry David Thoreau, respectively. Finally, I conclude that the experience of aloneness is fundamentally a privation of interpersonal dialogue and that the type of aloneness experienced is a result of who initiates that privation.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication and Rhetorical Studies

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Michaels, Timothy

Contributors dc:contributor

• Janie M. Fritz
• Ronald C. Arnett
• Richard H. Thames

• aloneness
• solitude
• isolation
• escapism
• phenomenology
• loneliness
• Interpersonal and Small Group Communication

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1770

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-2797