No matter how close two individuals become, no matter to what extent their lives are shared, each must ultimately think and feel and experience alone. The relationships defined by such frameworks help to direct and mold what we communicate about, how we will communicate, and how we will judge the results. The divergent philosophical foundations that have arisen from such forefathers as Plato and Aristotle and which have been adopted across history lead to equally distinct views concerning the nature of science, society, and self. The acceptance of a certain metaphysical position will lead to a certain type of epistemology. How we answer these questions entails wide-ranging consequences.
Communication occurs within a context and by certain means.
In reality, the nature of that context and those means will determine the nature of communication itself. Conceptually, the way we view communication is dependent upon and derived from the answers we give to the questions asked above. I believe that throughout most of the social sciences, the wrong answers have been offered. The result has been a mishmash of ideas providing a confused picture of what it means to be human and operate in a social context. The view I present of these issues will lead to a different and, hopefully, more consistent understanding of our selves, our place in the world, and of the communication process itself.