Resolving Conflicts and Making Subtle Distinctions

Systematicity presupposes narrative coherence within a given context and is therefore, situational. On this assumption what is important are not merely individual statements, but the linkage of various statements to each other in a given investigation. While each one may be accorded legitimacy on its own, inconsistencies may be evident in their grouping, which then requires some type of resolution. Thus, Rescher refers to "an aporetic cluster...a family of philosophical relevant contentions" (p. 93) that in their collectivity contains an inconsistency, which needs to be worked through to move the investigation forward. As an example, consider the following set of potentially conflicting statements, which Rescher refers to as an "apory":

1. Literacy is a metaphor for knowledge acquisition drawn upon in the symbolic grappling with print-based texts.
2. Literacy refers to the capacity to read, write, and comprehend print-based texts.
3. Efficacy is determined through the ways in which readers draw meaning from texts, including its appropriation, however elliptically, into their lives.
4. Efficacy is determined by the degree of gains made in reading, writing, and the comprehension of print-based texts.
5. Literacy as a metaphor resides in the transaction between the reader and the text.

On its face, there is nothing intrinsically contradictory about these statements, which depend on the contexts to which they refer. As identified throughout this essay, our context is that of deriving a definition of literacy based upon the two choices previously identified. Thus, if one accepts the first premise the definition is contained in the statement. On this interpretation, statements 3 and 5 invariably follow, while statements 2 and 4 serve as supplementary sources of the overall definition. A problem sets in when no evidentiary progress is discernable in the support of statements of 2 and 4 regardless of the definition of literacy. The problem is heightened if evidence actually points to lack of progress in those areas. That does not mean that the definition in statement 1 cannot pertain, but it does require a radical embrace of its assumptions in which the metaphorical description dominates without equivocation. By contrast, if literacy is defined by progressive mastery of the technologies of reading and writing, then the definition is contained in statement 2 and directly supported by 4. Similarly, statements 1 and 3 could serve as supplementary sources of the overall definition. However, if no discernable progress on the mastery of reading and writing is made can it be meaningfully inferred that progress in literacy education has been achieved based only on the elusive concept of "meaning making?" Based on the definition in statement 2, one would have to draw a negative conclusion.