Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation & Rhetoric along with the PhD in Argumentation Studies at the University of Windsor invite you to a talk by
James B. Milner
Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California
“Toward a More Cromulent Reason: On Local Appropriateness”
Abstract: The word “cromulent” was invented by The Simpsons writer David X. Cohen, and it appeared during the 1995-96 season in the “Lisa the Iconoclast” episode. But did Cohen invent the concept, or did he merely crystallize an idea which has already been at play? I argue that cromulence is most properly local appropriateness, and this local character is what gives the term its specificity. I argue that the concept itself has already had a role to play in certain areas of critique, particularly in poststructural and allied thought. But as the term itself appears in academic and popular literature—most tellingly in technical-scientific texts—this precisely local specificity becomes muddled. I attempt to rehabilitate the use of the term, and try to use cromulence to explore how being aware of local affordances, experiences, strictures, language, and other social realities affect how one evaluates and judges reasoning and argument.
Friday, October 5, 2018
3:00 pm
Chrysler Hall North, 1163
All are welcome