Rokeach in Rhetoric: Universal Values in Rhetoric

• In Event: Multiple Perspectives of Political Rhetoric: From the Use of Rhetoric to Presidential Rhetoric

Abstract

This paper attempts to provide insight as to why scholars should include Rokeach’s (1973) conception of values into rhetorical studies. Rokeach’s list of 18 terminal, or end-state values, and 18 instrumental, or behavioral values, are an attempt to create a universal set of values that every culture embodies, albeit in different hierarchical orders. Incorporating his concept of values into rhetorical studies provides a coherent set of values that can be used universally by rhetorical scholars.

Author

• Jeffrey Delbert, Univ of Missouri, Columbia