The Role of Dissociation in Redeeming Knowledge Claims: Nineteenth-Century Shakers' Epistemological Resistance to Decline

Discussed is how dissociation (ie, the rhetorical process whereby a unitary concept is dissolved into two aspects in such a way that one aspect is endorsed while its devalued partner is given new coherence within the particular system of thought) operates to defend discredited knowledge claims. It is shown that when knowledge claims central to one's thought system are discredited, dissociation can redeem these claims by dismissing the discrediting evidence or by transforming the knowledge criteria. This use of dissociation is illustrated via an examination of US Shaker knowledge claims. 71 References. W. Howard