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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Federal Environmental Impact Statements: Overly Inflated Needs Result In Needlessenvironmental Harm, Gorden Steinhoff
Federal Environmental Impact Statements: Overly Inflated Needs Result In Needlessenvironmental Harm, Gorden Steinhoff
Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications
According to federal regulations, an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must include a statement of the purpose of, and need for, the proposed action. Unfortunately, the regulations do not specify how to determine the need. Typically, the declared need for a proposed action includes items that are not genuine needs. They are necessary conditions for achieving goals that are merely desired. The result of such overly inflated needs is, literally, needless environmental harm. The author presents criteria for identifying needs that have been developed by philosophers David Braybrooke and Garrett Thomson. These criteria are useful for gauging how far federal agencies …
Background Behavior In Live Debates: The Effects Of The Implicit Ad Hominem Fallacy, John S. Seiter, Harold J. Kinzer, Harry Weger Jr.
Background Behavior In Live Debates: The Effects Of The Implicit Ad Hominem Fallacy, John S. Seiter, Harold J. Kinzer, Harry Weger Jr.
Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications
This study examined the effects of background nonverbal behavior displayed with the purpose of undermining one's opponent in live debates. Students participated as audience members in one of three versions of a live debate. In one version, the nonspeaking debater remained “stone faced” during her opponent's speech, while in the other two she displayed either occasional or nearly constant nonverbal disagreement. After viewing the debates, students rated the debaters' credibility, appropriateness, and debating skills, in addition to judging who won the debate. Analysis indicated that background nonverbal behavior influenced audience perceptions of some, but not all, dimensions of speaker credibility …