TOWARD A SYSTEMIC THEORY OF SYMBOLIC ACTION
By
PATRICK MICHAEL McKERCHER
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
October, 1993
c Patrick Michael McKercher, 1993
1.2: General Systems Theory 10
1.3: Evolution of System Theory in the Early Burkean Corpus 13
1.4: Systems Theory in the Later Corpus 18
1.5: The Systemic Basis for Burke's Theory of Symbolic Action 21
1.6: The Metaphorical Basis of Symbolic Action 23
1.7: A Unified Field Theory for Rhetoric 26
Chapter 2: General Systems Theory
2.1: Introduction 28
2.2: Bertalanffy Biographical Background 30
2.3: Origins of General Systems Theory 31
2.4: Contra Mechanism 38
2.5: Symbolism 41
2.6: General Systems Theory Principles 43
Chapter 3: The Early Burkean Corpus
3.1: Biographical Background 52
3.2: Counter-Statement 53
3.3: Burke in the Thirties 58
3.4: Permanence and Change 59
3.5: Attitudes Toward History 64
3.6: Philosophy of Literary Form 71
4.1: Biographical Background 79
4.2: A Grammar of Motives 82
4.3: A Rhetoric of Motives 88
4.4: The Rhetoric of Religion 97
4.5: Language As Symbolic Action 102
Chapter 5: The Systemic Basis of Burke's Theory of Symbolic Action
5.1: Burke-Bertalanffy Affinities 114
5.2: Burke's Systemic Theory of Symbolic Action 126
5.3: Mental Systems 131
5.4: Culture as System 133
5.5 Language As System 133
5.6 Limitations of Burkean Theory 135
Chapter Six: The Metaphorical Basis of Symbolic Action
6.1: Contra Mechanism 143
6.2: Connectionism 144
6.3: Analogical Thought and Categorization 149
6.4: Schema Theory 152
6.5: Implications for Rhetoric 156
6.6: Directions for Future Research 163
Appendices (Notes, History of Metaphor). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169