Meta-theoretical Perspectives of Communication

To offer new and substitute perspectives in communication science and provide appropriate grounds for domestic theorization require the knowledge of pre-theoretical presuppositions of predominant theoretical trends, known as meta theoretical presuppositions. Every philosophical trend or every paradigm constitutes a system of these meta-theoretical presuppositions including ontological, epistemological, ideological and axiological presuppositions. By a meta-theoretical analysis of theories and communication problems, we come across some meta-theories, namely rationalism, functionalism, exegeticism, criticism and especially postmodernism. Each of these meta-theories has offered their own trends to various pertinent fields of communication theories. Besides these philosophical approaches, there exists a form of meta-theoretical analysis that aims at providing an Asian-centered meta-theoretical perspective and "de-westernizing" the communication theory.