[This is part of a longer piece, but I really want this part to be separate–it’s about Democrats trying to relitigate the 2016 election. And my basic argument is that we’re engaged in demagoguery about that election.] In a healthy deliberative situation, people will consider the policy first and faction second. In a culture of … Continue reading “III. Trying to solve the problems of factionalized politics by creating a more unified faction”
As someone really worried with how badly Americans argue about public policies, I’ve especially worried about highly politicized attacks on science, and how hard it is for scientists to get pretty basic concepts understood. As a historian of public argumentation, I’m unhappily aware that the tendency to attack scientific discoveries on purely political grounds isn’t … Continue reading “Sciencing in public”
Handouts The following are handouts I routinely use in my classes. Advice on Writing A Quick and Dirty Guide to Grammer Errers A Short and Highly Idiosyncratic History of Rhetoric Characteristics of Demagoguery Fallacies Notes Toward an Introduction to Plato Some issues about Gorgias Understanding Misunderstandings: How to Do a Rhetorical Analysis Ways to Get … Continue reading “Documents For Download”
1man1woman. 1man1woman.net. Web. 20 Dec. 2014. “About FRC.” Family Research Council: Advancing Faith, Family and Freedom. Family Research Council, 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. Agamben, Giorgio. State of Exception. Chicago : U of Chicago P, 2005. Print. Allen, Bryce, Jian Qin, and F.W. Lancaster. “Persuasive Communities: A Longitudinal Analysis of References in the Philosophical Transactions … Continue reading “Works Cited for Demagoguery Project”
We are, again, at a point in time when the term “demagoguery” is getting thrown around, or, perhaps more accurately, the accusation. As has often happened, the prominence, and disturbing power of an individual, gets us to worry about that kind of rhetoric, but specifically as a question of identity. We are talking about whether … Continue reading “Rhetoric and Demagoguery (Denver talk)”
One of my criticisms of conventional definitions of demagoguery is that they enable us to identify when they are getting suckered by demagoguery, but not when we are. They aren’t helpful for helping us see our own demagoguery because they emphasize the “irrationality” and bad motives of the demagogues. And both strategies are deeply flawed, … Continue reading “Rationality, demagoguery, and rhetoric”
Writing about the proslavery argument in the antebellum era was actually painful. The Slave Power, as many people called it, completely dominated American policy deliberation for far too long. The antebellum era was wickedly factional, and not just in binaries. People could read nothing but information from a Van Buren or Calhoun (both Democratic), or … Continue reading “What do we do now?”
A lot of people cite studies that show that people can’t be persuaded. As though that should persuade people not to try to persuade others. That isn’t even the biggest problem with those studies. The studies are often badly designed (no one should be persuaded to change an important belief by being told by one … Continue reading “Conditions that make persuasion difficult”
There is a conventional understanding of demagogues, represented in dictionary definitions, and much conventional understandings: a demagogue is a person who deliberately misleads the common people through appealing to emotions and prejudices. That isn’t what “demagogue” has always meant, and it’s a useless definition. Explaining why it’s useless is complicated, and arguing why we should … Continue reading “Donald Trump is not a demagogue, but he does engage in demagoguery”
A long, rambling narrative of my research projects What follows is, as promised above, a long, rambling narrative of my research interests, as represented in my major projects. If, for whatever reason, you’re interested in the narrative of articles, consult my equally long and rambling narrative of my articles. [I can’t remember the title of … Continue reading “A long, rambling narrative of my research projects”
