ABSTRACT
Such concerns undergird the next two chapters. The age old conflict between science and humanism certainly lends itself well to Scott Olson's discussion of the "renewed" alchemism we are experiencing. More than a simple description of a well-known clash between conceptual assumptions, Olson critically examines the implications of that ongoing struggle for theories about humans who communicate. Anderson and Goodall pick up another, closely related thread in this complex tapestry, when they discuss a more specific attempt to address conceptual problems and confrontations through the development of theoretical and research processes based on the social unit, individual action, and actual practices of members in a given lifeworld. At that point we are led to consider the significant roles culture and society play in all that is discussed throughout this book.
