Technical Communication Quarterly Apr 2013

Multiple Ontologies in Pain Management: Toward a Postplural Rhetoric of Science

S. Scott Graham University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee ; Carl Herndl

Abstract

This article uses data obtained from a 2-year study—observation, survey, written- and verbal-artifact analysis, and interviews—of an interdisciplinary organization of pain management professionals to illustrate the analytic advantages of Mol and Latour's multiple-ontologies theories over incommensurability theory in understanding interdisciplinary practice. We demonstrate that pain science and medicine encompass a variety of practices that transcend disciplinary boundaries in ways not accounted for with incommensurability theory. After explicating multiple ontology theory and illustrating its analytic potential, we conclude by recommending a postplural model for inquiry into rhetoric of science.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2013-04-01
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2013.733674
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Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism
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Citation Context

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