Rhetoric Society Quarterly Sep 1996

How bad science stays that way: Brain sex, demarcation, and the status of truth in the rhetoric of science

Celeste Condit

Abstract

T here is a long-standing tension between the community and rheto ricians of with regard to the status of truth and the objectivity of knowledge. While neither the community nor the community of rhetorical scholars can be said to be monolithic in their views, the scientific view ascribes objective, permanent, and universal status to the facts produced by scientists, whereas the view supported by many rhetoricians describes facts as products of social conditions, and therefore marked by inter-subjectivity, transience, and situational delimitations. The classical account thus sees facts as discovered, whereas the sophistic rhetorical account portrays them as constructed (e.g., Fuller; Gaonkar; Gusfield; Latour; Latour and Woolgar; Lessl; Nelson, Megill, and McCloskey; Taylor, Defining Science).' As a variety of scholars have suggested, this bifurcation of views can be resolved into a unified perspective that accounts for the major arguments advanced by those supporting each of the classical orientations (Bambrough; Bernstein; Laudan, Explaining Success). It is possible, in other words, to see facts as both objective and situated-both faithful to material realities and responsive to social conditions (Howe and Lyne). From this unified perspective, scientists can make errors either because their contact with asocial material realities are flawed (e.g., cold fusion) or because there are flaws in their application of the linguistic and social codes that convey the character and meaning of the contact they have made with material realities. This essay explores the persistence of bad science of the latter sort by reporting and interpreting an interaction between scientists and a rhetorician, one that occurred when I sent a letter to the journal Science responding to a publication on brain sex research by Gur et al. (Sex Differences), which appeared in that journal. I was later interviewed by a reporter for a major newspaper with regard to my letter and the Gur research. The texts for this study therefore include the Gur research article, my letter, a reply to my letter by the authors of the Gur article, the two reviews of my letter solicited by the editor of Science, and the journalistic account of my letter and the scientists' publications. This essay interprets the response of these scientists and the integration of their work into the public sphere through theories of demarcation. It suggests that bad science, at least that which supports an ideology that is hegemonic in the social sphere,2 is maintained by a complex relationship beRSQ: Rhetoric Society Quarterly 83 Volume 26, Number 4 Fall 1996

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
1996-09-01
DOI
10.1080/02773949609391080
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation context

Cited by in this index (10)

  1. Bloomfield et al. (2026)
    Bad Arguments, Bad Science, and Bad Consequences: A Response to an Anti-Trans Keynote
    Argumentation
  2. Fahnestock (2025)
    The Controversy behind the Controversies: Scientific Discourse in the Twenty-Fi…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  3. Zerbe et al. (2025)
    The Rhetoric of Science in (Times of) Crisis
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  4. Gruber et al. (2024)
    A Forum on Neurorhetorics: Conscious of the Past, Mindful of the Future
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Lanius (2022)
    Rhetoric of Social Statistics: Statistical Persuasion and Argumentation in the …
    Rhetoric Review
Show all 10 →
  1. Pezzullo et al. (2018)
    Resistance: Taking a Stand, Struggling to Matter
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  2. Leake (2012)
    Science as Sound Bites: The Lancet Iraq Casualty Reports and Prefigured Accommodation
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Jack (2010)
    What are Neurorhetorics?
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  4. Jack et al. (2010)
    “This is Your Brain on Rhetoric”: Research Directions for Neurorhetorics
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  5. Sullivan (2000)
    Keeping the rhetoric orthodox: Forum control in science
    Technical Communication Quarterly

References (67)

  1. Allen Laura S. (1990)
    Journal of Comparative Neurology
  2. Allen Laura S. (1989)
    10.1523/JNEUROSCI.09-02-00497.1989
    Journal of Neuroscience  ↗
  3. Bambrough Renford (1979)
    Moral Scepticism and Moral Knowledge
  4. Barrett Harrison H. (1995)
    10.1126/science.267.5206.1892
    Science  ↗
  5. Begley Sharon (1995)
    Newsweek
Show all 67 →
  1. Belenky Mary Field (1986)
    Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind
  2. Bernstein Richard J. (1983)
    Beyond Objectivism and Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics, and Praxis
  3. Biesecker Barbara (1992)
    Philosophy and Rhetoric
  4. Bleier Ruth (1984)
    Science and Gender
  5. Butler Judith (1990)
    Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity
  6. Byne William (1988)
    10.1037/0735-7044.102.2.222
    Behavioral Neuroscience  ↗
  7. Carter Kathryn (1989)
    Doing Research on Women's Communication: Perspectives on Theory and Method
  8. Cherwitz Richard A. (1986)
    Communication and Knowledge: An Investigation of Rhetorical Epistemology
  9. Cohen Maimon M. (1994)
    10.1126/science.266.5192.1791
    Science  ↗
  10. Condit Celeste M. (1987)
    10.1080/00335638709383795
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  ↗
  11. _____ (1984)
    Critical Studies in Mass Communication
  12. _____ (1995)
    Kenneth Burke and Contemporary European Thought
  13. Condit Celeste M.
    Speaker and Gavel
  14. Crowe Cristine (1990)
    The New Reproductive Technologies
     ↗
  15. Farnham Christie (1987)
    The Impact of Feminist Research in the Academy
     ↗
  16. Foss Karen A. (1991)
    The Eloquence of Women's Lives
  17. Fox Keller Evelyn (1985)
    Reflections on Gender and Science
  18. Fuller Steve (1993)
    Philosophy, Rhetoric, and the End of Knowledge: The Coming of Science and Technology Studies
  19. Gaonkar Dilip P. (1993)
    10.1080/10417949309372909
    Southern Communication Journal  ↗
  20. Gieryn Thomas F. (1982)
    10.1177/030631282012002004
    Social Studies of Science  ↗
  21. Gilligan Carol (1982)
    In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development
  22. Gowaty Patricia Adair (1982)
    10.1016/S0003-3472(82)80079-1
    Animal Behaviour  ↗
  23. Gowaty Patricia Adair (1991)
    10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80904-2
    Animal Behaviour  ↗
  24. Gur Ruben C. (1995)
    10.1126/science.7824953
    Science  ↗
  25. Gur Ruben C. (1982)
    10.1126/science.7089587
    Science  ↗
  26. Gusfield Joseph (1976)
    10.2307/2094370
    American Sociological Review  ↗
  27. Hall Stuart (1978)
    Mugging, the State, and Law and Order
  28. Haraway Donna J. (1991)
    Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature
  29. Harding Sandra (1986)
    The Science Question in Feminism
  30. _____ (1991)
    Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? Thinking from Women's Lives
  31. Harding Sandra (1983)
    Discovering Reality: Feminist Perspectives on Epistemology, Metaphysics, Methodology, and…
  32. Hasian Marouf
    Quarterly Journal of Speech
  33. Hawkins Katherine (1989)
    Doing Research on Women's Communication: Perspectives on Theory and Method
  34. Hendrick Bill (1995)
    The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
  35. Hikins James W. (1988)
    10.1080/00335638809383837
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  ↗
  36. Howe Henry (1992)
    10.1080/02691729208578649
    Social Epistemology  ↗
  37. Hubbard Ruth (1990)
    The Politics of Women's Biology
  38. Jaggar Alison M. (1983)
    Feminist Politics and Human Nature
  39. Kessler Suzanne J. (1990)
    10.1086/494643
    Signs  ↗
  40. Kramer Larry (1995)
    10.1126/science.7871412
    Science  ↗
  41. Latour Bruno (1987)
    Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers through Society
  42. Latour Bruno (1979)
    Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Scientific Facts
  43. Laudan Larry (1984)
    Science and Reality
  44. Laudan Larry (1983)
    Working Papers on the Demarcation of Science and Pseudoscience
  45. Lessl Thomas (1989)
    10.1080/00335638909383871
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  ↗
  46. Mandel H. George (1989)
    10.1126/science.7997868
    Science  ↗
  47. Martin Emily (1987)
    The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction
  48. Moi Toril (1991)
    Sexual/Textual Politics
  49. Nelkin Dorothy (1987)
    Selling Science
  50. Nelson John S. (1987)
    The Rhetoric of the Human Sciences: Language and Argument in Scholarship and Human Affairs
  51. Olshevsky George (1995)
    10.1126/science.267.5205.1750
    Science  ↗
  52. Pearson Judy C. (1991)
    Gender and Communication.
  53. Poulakos John (1995)
    Sophistical Rhetoric in Classical Greece
  54. Prelli Lawrence J. (1993)
    10.1080/10417949309372914
    Southern Communication Journal  ↗
  55. Railsback Celeste Condit (1983)
    10.1080/00335638309383662
    Quarterly Journal of Speech  ↗
  56. Rakow Lana (1986)
    10.1111/j.1460-2466.1986.tb01447.x
    Journal of Communication  ↗
  57. Spallone Patricia (1992)
    Generation Games: Genetic Engineering and the Future for Our Lives
  58. Sutton Jane (1992)
    10.1080/10417949209372857
    Southern Communication Journal  ↗
  59. Tavris Carole (1992)
    The Mismeasure of Woman
  60. Taylor Charles A. (1991)
    10.1080/03637759109376238
    Communication Monographs  ↗
  61. Taylor Charles A. (1996)
    Defining Science: A Rhetoric of Demarcation
  62. Witelson Sandra F. (1989)
    10.1093/brain/112.3.799
    Brain  ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 19 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related articles

  1. Philosophy & Rhetoric Dec 2021
    The Weimar Origins of Rhetorical Inquiry ↗
    Daniel M. Gross
    classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism feminist rhetorics writing pedagogy graduate education revision argument public rhetoric book reviews editorial matter
  2. Rhetorica Mar 2020
    The Rhetoric of Seeing in Attic Forensic Oratory by Peter A. O’Connell ↗
    Ruth Webb
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism argument qualitative research public rhetoric book reviews editorial matter
  3. Philosophy & Rhetoric Nov 2019
    Angry Public Rhetorics: Global Relations and Emotion in the Wake of 9/11 ↗
    Michael William Pfau
    classical rhetoric modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis argument collaborative writing assessment empirical research public rhetoric affect and writing body and rhetoric book reviews editorial matter
  4. Rhetorica Sep 2016
    Rhetoric and Rhythm in Byzantium: The Sound of Persuasion by Vessela Valiavitcharska ↗
    Debra Hawhee
    classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism discourse analysis teacher development argument archival research public rhetoric book reviews editorial matter
  5. Rhetorica Sep 2025
    The Preface to De Inventione 1 and Cicero's Thetic Method ↗
    Daniel Markovich
    classical rhetoric rhetorical criticism public rhetoric editorial matter