Communication and Community: Implications of Martin Buber's Dialogue. This item is unavailable.Communication and Community: Implications of Martin Buber's Dialogue

Martin Buber's work suggests that real life begins with two individ­uals engaged in dialogue, not just taking care of one's own needs as described in social Darwinism.

Arnett argues that the end of the age of abundance demands that we give up the communica­tive strategies of the past and seek to work together in the midst of limited resources and an uncertain future. Today's situa­tion calls for an unwavering commitment to Buber's "narrow ridge" concern for both self and community.

Arnett illustrates the narrow ridge definition of interpersonal communication with rich ex­amples. His vignettes demon­strate effective and ineffective approaches to human communi­ty. An effective approach, he makes clear, incorporates not only openness to others' points of view but also a willingness to be persuaded.

Ronald C. Arnett is a professor and chair of the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University and past editor of the Journal of Communication and Religion. He is the author of more than one hundred articles on philosophy and communication, and the author, coauthor, or editor of seven books, including Dialogic Civility in a Cynical Age: Community, Hope, and Interpersonal Relationships; Dialogic Education: Conversations About Ideas and Between Persons; and Communication and Community: Implications of Martin Buber's Dialogue, a winner of the Religious Speech Communication Association Book Award.