ABSTRACT
Inquiry into the ‘nature’ of communicating humans is certain to strike some readers as misdirected, a step backwards towards a way of thinking that was surpassed through awareness of the discursive, culturally-based (i.e., distinctly ‘non-natural’) character of human communicative activities. Accordingly, the topic of this chapter requires preliminary justifi cation and an orienting perspective with regard to its central concepts.
