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on the grounds of the unfaltering surety of the speakers. "Surely" signi–
fies not a premise or a piece of evidence, but an attitude . Orgel and
Regan believe in what they say, and believe in it with certainty. Added
to each proposition is a state of mind, an assurance that disallows objec–
tion. Marking the statements as dubitable only by wrongheaded people,
"surely" automatically dismisses those who believe otherwise. Anybody
who disagrees with the propositions faces the task of refuting them
and
surmounting the certitude of Orgel and Regan.
This excess of confidence is a key
to
social constructionist argumen–
tation. The "surely" here is an explicit instance of the tacit, blank temer–
ity of expression typical of the idiom. Given the breadth of
constructionist ideas, proponents might submit them tentatively as spec–
ulations, hypotheses, or opinions, but in fact, this spirited confidence
phrases them as bare simplicities whose contradiction is intellectually
indefensible, and perhaps politically motivated. The aplomb turns the
issue from the truth or falsity of the premises to the mindset of the
antagonists. Since no enlightened mind would doubt the premises, dis–
sent from them can only stem from the wrongheadedness of the dis–
senters. As the intentions of the other side come under scrutiny, the
premises themselves remain untouched. A philosophical quarrel
becomes a psychological speculation. Consider, for example, how these
two statements take constructionist ideas for granted, and cast doubt on
the temper of those who do not:
...nothing in today's colleges seems to have enraged traditionalists
more than the idea of the contingency of knowledge.
For after all, the pragmatist believes in the sufficiency of human
practices and is not dismayed when those practices are shown to be
grounded in nothing more (or less) than their own traditions and
histories; the impossibility of tying our everyday meanings and val–
ues to meanings and values less local does not lead the pragmatist
to suspect their reality, but to suspect the form of thought that
would deny it.
The first citation, by Paul Lauter, comes from an afterword to the
instructor's guide
to
The Heath Anthology of American Literature,
in
which Lauter reflects upon the canon, undergraduate education, and the
contingent status of knowledge. Nowhere in the piece does Lauter demon–
strate the contingency premise, nor does he mention any arguments
