Arguing that rhetorical theorist I. A. Richards has a significant contribution to make to the continuing dialogue regarding communication and values, this paper examines Richards' thinking concerning the communication-values relationship. The paper notes that the neglect of Richards' work by communication theorists is due largely to a misunderstanding of his perspective--often seen as a narrow positivism holding that values and communication are separate. A reanalysis is proposed, based on the view that Richards was an axiologically oriented theorist concerned with links among choices, values, and communication. The analysis proceeds in three steps: (1) an outline of Richards' theory of value, which synthesizes ideas found in a number of works; (2) a discussion that relates his theory of values to his ideas regarding communication, especially as they appear in his "theory of comprehending" and the associated idea of "feedforward"; and (3) a demonstration of the practical utility of the analysis, conducted by looking at the research on compliance and compliance-gaining, to show how Richards' scheme for understanding the communication-value relationship can inform contemporary communication scholarship. (FL)