The abortion debate in the United States today is considered, with a particular focus on the use of rights language. The methodology of interpretation is dimensional anthropology rhetorical criticism, an approach developed by the author, which focuses on nature, divine transcendence, society, and individuality as the key dimensions within which rhetorical arguments are made regarding abortion. The first part of the thesis demonstrates that the use of rights language in the abortion debate (and in Western culture more generally) is in disarray. The second part of the thesis argues that: (1) rights language is always rhetorical, (2) dimensional anthropology enables us to understand better why different people use rights language in the way that they do, (3) René Girard`s account of the historical roots of rights language in the West is important to consider, (4) the pro-choice position can be criticized from the pro-life perspective as a failure to maintain balance within the dimensions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TCU/oai:etd.tcu.edu:etd-12192013-133929 |
| Date | 19 December 2013 |
| Creators | Bellinger, Charles |
| Contributors | Richard L Enos |
| Publisher | Texas Christian University |
| Source Sets | Texas Christian University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.tcu.edu/etdfiles/available/etd-12192013-133929/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to TCU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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