ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the normative epistemology of Anglo-American journalism lies in the dialectical relationship between two different epistemic practices, Realism and Pragmatism. Realism is the idea that our thoughts, and often media, can and do correspond to or represent Reality. Pragmatism and its practical application, the Marketplace of Ideas, on the other hand, views truth as 'contingent'. In the study of interpersonal relationship development, Baxter argues that the tensions between dialectics such as integration/separation, stability/change, and expression/privacy are the primary motivators for communication within human relationships as well as the basis for their formation. For Lacanian theory, the important thing to highlight is the interaction of the Real and the Symbolic. The psychoanalytic real is the foundational basis for our desires, and the Symbolic is our perpetually unsuccessful attempt via language to come to terms with the Real by unendingly seeking those desires.
