Technical Communication Quarterly Jan 1992

Between efficiency and politics rhetoric and ethics in technical writing

Cezar M. Ornatowski San Diego State University

Abstract

Traditional textbook rationales for the technical writing course locate the essence of technical writing in objectivity, clarity, and neutrality, and the need for teaching it in its usefulness to employers. Such rationales, however, are unable to accommodate a notion of ethics and responsibility: if the writer merely serves the interests that employ her by reporting facts in an objective way, how can she exercise choice when ethical problems arise? An alternative view is to see technical writing as always rhetorical and involved with potentially conflicting agendas and interests, with objectivity, clarity, and neutrality serving merely as stylistic devices in the writer's rhetorical toolbox. Technical writers are rhetoricians who continually make ethical choices in serving diverse interests and negotiating between conflicting demands. The recognition of the fundamental rhetoricity of technical writing is the first step towards accommodating a meaningful notion of ethics into the technical writing curriculum.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
1992-01-01
DOI
10.1080/10572259209359493
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
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Citation context

Cited by in this index (21)

  1. Rosselot-Merritt et al. (2026)
    Rhetoric of Technical Communication and Technical Communication of Rhetoric: Im…
    Rhetoric Review
  2. Burnett et al. (2025)
    A Conceptual Approach to Research Poster Design: Process, Audience, and Organization
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  3. Randall (2022)
    Taking the Tactical Out of Technical: A Reassessment of Tactical Technical Comm…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Walwema et al. (2021)
    “Are You Authorized to Work in the U.S.?” Investigating “Inclusive” Practices i…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Boedy (2017)
    From Deliberation to Responsibility: Ethics, Invention, and Bonhoeffer in Techn…
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  1. Jones et al. (2016)
    Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Commun…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Frost (2016)
    Apparent Feminism as a Methodology for Technical Communication and Rhetoric
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Lutz et al. (2007)
    Exploring Authority: A Case Study of a Composition and a Professional Writing C…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Lutz et al. (2007)
    Exploring Authority: A Case Study of a Composition and a Professional Writing C…
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  5. David (2001)
    Mythmaking in Annual Reports
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Smith (2000)
    Strength in the Technical Communication Journals and Diversity in the Serials Cited
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. Dombrowski (2000)
    Ethics and Technical Communication: The Past Quarter Century
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  8. ORNATOWSKI (1998)
    2 + 2 = 5 If 2 Is Large Enough: Rhetorical Spaces of Technology Development in …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  9. Henson et al. (1998)
    A Service Learning Approach to Business and Technical Writing Instruction
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  10. Markel (1997)
    Ethics and technical communication: a case for foundational approaches
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  11. Savage (1996)
    Redefining the ResponsibiIities of Teachers and the Social Position of the Tech…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  12. THOMPSON (1996)
    Competence and Critique in Technical Communication: A Qualitative Content Analy…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  13. Johnson-Eilola et al. (1996)
    Policing ourselves: Defining the boundaries of appropriate discussion in online…
    Computers and Composition
  14. Selber (1995)
    Metaphorical perspectives on hypertext
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  15. Scott (1995)
    Sophistic ethics in the technical writing classroom: Teachingnomos,deliberation…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  16. Weiss (1995)
    "Professional communication" and the "odor of mendacity": the persistent suspic…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

References (13) · 2 in this index

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CrossRef global citation count: 28 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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