Persuasion Exam 2

Does the end justify the means?

It is easy to have a theory that it is okay to tweak message to adapt to the audience. However, it feels very different when you have a personal message.

What is a syllogism?

a device that Aristotle invented to analyze and test deductive reasoning

What is a Demagogue?

a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises. Uses arguments based on emotions rather than reason. Usually appears during emotional turmoil

types of evidence:

direct experience, dramatic/vicarious experience, testimony, anecdotes, partipation and demonstration, rationally processed evidence

data in the Toulmin Format

evidence to support the claim

reservation in the Toulmin Format

features words like "unless" or "only if there is a reason to believe that"

political perspectives (on ethics)

values are implicit and explicit as they relate to a political party (hate speech, name calling)

what is moral exclusion?

when a group feels excluded

ethics and the CCU symposium

when stuff is anonymous, it becomes a license for people to say anything

dialogical perspectives (on ethics)

your communication and dialogical, we need to have face-to-face attitudes toward communication- such as when/why/how

Quintilian

-Roman, 35-100 AD (only one not BC) -primarily interested in character 1. defined rhetoric as "the good man speaking well" (justice) 2. orator is not a philosopher 3. calls for imitation and invention

Enthymeme

-A truncated or shortened syllogism. It omits one step of the syllogism. -example: Joe is sick because he's feverish (Fever= sick, joe= fever, joe=sick)

Michel Foucault

-French, communist (never felt welcomed because he was homosexual) -taught sociology for 3 years -more concerned with discourse than rhetoric -concerned with knowledge, power, and resistance -within every discourse, there is power -broke the mold with his view that knowledge is not unproductive, he saw it as necessary for society

examples of moral exclusion:

-Showing the superiority of oneself or one's group by making unflattering comparisons to other individuals or groups. -Denying that others possess humanity, dignity, or sensitivity, or have a right to compassion. -Placing the blame for any harm on the victim. -Justifying harmful behavior by claiming that it is widely accepted. -Misrepresenting cruelty and harm through the use of neutral, positive, technical, or euphemistic terms.

Is is ever ethical to lie or be deceptive?

-To this question some people would respond with a resounding no, never! -Others would respond with less certainty and recognize the possible complexity of the question.

Ad Populum

-a fallacy that relies on whatever happens to be popular at that time (appealing to the mob) -appeals to desire to conform -example: "Gods must exist, since every culture has some sort of belief in a higher being" or "everybody is using it"

maxim

-a shortened enthymeme, either the conclusion or premise of an enthymeme -example: absence makes the heart grow fonder (enthymeme: since absence from a loved one makes the heart grow fonder, the two lovers will become more fond of each other) (syllogism behind enthymeme: 1. absence from a loved one makes the heart grow fonder, 2. Two lovers are absent from each other, 3. Therefore, the lovers will become more fond of each other)

rationally processed evidence

-appeals to logical processes in non-dramatic and intellectual ways. Innate ability to reason using evidence

things from the second halve of James

-are we following God's desires or the world's? -envy places into quarells -9 imperitive commands -James knew auidence (godly and ungodly auidence) -grateful for everything we have -pressure: gets realseed as anger or internalizing (depression) -planting word of God is like a bamboo plant, takes 3 years to root -be where you are at spiritually, talk to God from the heart

Conditional syllogism

-arguments that use "if/then" reasoning -example: (if A is true then B is true as well), If you eat candy every day, then you are putting yourself at risk for diabetes. John does not eat candy every day, therefore he is not putting himself at risk for diabetes. (But he could be eating cake every day).

Michel Foucault definition of discourse

-what others would call rhetoric, plays a central role in the creation of knowledge -focusing on power relationships in society as expressed through language and practice

Logical Syllogisms

conditional syllogism, disjuntive syllogism, categorical syllogism

backing in the Toulmin Format

(for the warrant) information that establishes the credibility of the reasoning or connection between data and claim

the platinum rule

-"Do unto others as they themselves would have done unto them." -Certainly the Platinum Rule forces us to take into serious account the values and preferences of others, -But we need to be careful that we do not interpret the Platinum Rule as requiring us automatically and unquestioningly to do what others want us to do.

the golden rule

-"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." -One interpretation is that we should only do specific actions to others if we would allow them to do the same specific actions to us. -Another interpretation would not require mutually specific actions but would require that the ethical principles and standards that we follow in relating to others are the same ethical principles we would expect others to follow in relating to us.

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

-"after this, therefore because of this" -first event is assumed to cause the second -example: take this pill and lose 40 lbs a week

Ad Hominem

-"to or at the person" -refers to any attack against an individual instead of against her or his position on a issue -example: A politician degrading another politician during a political campaign when asked about a specific policy, e.g. "Well, I think we need to look at the other candidate's failures regarding this topic."

Kenneth Burke

-*father of contemporary rhetoric -worked on massive concepts, like sociology and linguistics -rhetoric: the use of words by human agents to form attitudes to induce actions in other human agents -theories of form -rebirth, pollution, purification, and redemption

Richard Weaver

-born in NC, 1910 -rhetoric: truth plus its artful presentation; persuasive speech in service of truth -interested in values, ethics, and culture -supports conservative concepts -humans are mind, body, and soul -3 levels of knowledge -the 3 different levels of terms

Categorical syllogism

-deals with parts and wholes, or sets and subsets, of events in which major and minor premises both involve membership or non-membership in one of two categories -example: (A is a part of C, then B is a part of C. A and B are members of C.) All men are mortal, Socrates was a man, thefore, Socrates is mortal.

participation and demonstration

-dramatize evidence (like showing cancerous lung tissue)

Plato

-first student under Socrates 1. Tripartite theory of the soul: people are either logical, high-spirited (lovers of justice), or appetitive (pursue pleasure) 2. dialectic: looking for truth through dialogue -didn't believe in absolute truth 3. Need to have a sense and knowledge of justice - rhet has potential for harm and for good - thus there is a sense of moral responsibility here, and Plato sees this morality as an essential, universal good that must be discovered through language

inductive reasoning

-gets the specifics on the table before bringing up the general conclusion -Susan is blonde, and she is Swedish; Eric is blonde and he is Swedish, etc. Therefore, Swedish people must be blonde.

The Undistrubuted Middle

-guilty by association -infers that because an individual, group, or philosophy shares some aspects as or attributes with another, it shares all other attributes -example: (A= C, B=C, therefore A=B) All ghosts are imaginary. All unicorns are imaginary. Therefore, all ghosts are unicorns.

dramatic or vicarious experience

-human tendency to structure lives in narrative form, directly involved -an event that causes moderate stress reactions, can be performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another

human nature perspectives (on ethics)

-we are all human, with a human heart and mind -avoid dehumanizing people -examples: treatment of homosexuals and sex workers

anecdotes

-maybe only a sentence or two -a short story about something, often FUNNY or hypothetical

Cicero

-member of the Roman senate 1. His 5 canons of rhetoric: i.) invention, finding ways to persuade; ii.) arrangement, putting together/ forming effective argument; iii.) style, expression; iv.) memory, not reading; v.) delivery 2. orators learn not only about the specifics of their case (the hypothesis) but also about the general questions from which they derived (the theses) 3. gave rise to the idea that the "ideal orator" be well-versed in all branches of learning: an idea that was rendered as "liberal humanism"

Jean Baudrillard

-objects to the term "communication," doesn't include relational information: prefers the term "symbolic exchange" -born 1921 in France -skeptical of politics, went into sociology. We are either escaping or entering philosophy, it seems futile, and everything is not reality.

testimony

-often unreliable and incorrect -a formal testimony, can be a written or spoken statement -evidence or proof provided by existence of something

reasoning from symptoms

-persuaders sometimes identify a series of symptoms or signs and then try to conclude something about them -inflation means the white house is not doing a good job

direct experience

-probably the most powerful kind of proof, remains a part of one's memory for a lifetime -what one experiences

rebirth, pollution, and purification according to Kenneth Burke

-rebirth: rid yourself of guilt -pollution: intentional state of guilt and unclean condition -purification: step in cleansing or catharsis, either through victimization (making a scape-goat) or mortification (self-inflicted punishment) -redemption: state of cleanliness, can be new identity

A. Richards

-rhetoric: a study of misunderstanding and its remedy wanted to address lack of understanding in the classroom -in pursuit to dissect understanding, he dissected meaning -more interested in feedword (instead of feedback): hope, anticipation before something happened

The Straw Man

-sets up a weak, or "straw man" case that can easily be defeated. Creating a problem. -a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position -example: (Person A has position X. Person B presents position Y (which is a distorted version of X). Person B attacks position Y. Therefore X is false/incorrect/flawed.) "Senator Jones says that we should not fund the attack submarine program. I disagree entirely. I can't understand why he wants to leave us defenseless like that."

criteria-to-application reasoning

-sometimes persuaders establish a reasonable set of criteria for purchasing a product, voting for a candidate, or supporting a cause, and then offer their product, candidate, or cause that fits these criteria -example: (Criteria which appeal to common values are likely to be easily accepted): "Our manifesto says we must help those who cannot help themselves. Now, can this person help himself?"

reasoning from analogy or by comparison

-sometimes persuaders use figurative or real analogies as their logical reason for some conclusion -comparing two things (like Iraq and Seria)

cause-to-effect reasoning

-stronger than effect-to-cause -tells us who did what with what effect -persuaders frequently use this reasoning to identify events, trends, or facts that have resulted in certain effects -example: floods cause housing damage

Disjunctive syllogism

-use an "either/or" -example: (Either A or B is true, but they can't be true at the same time), Either the meeting is at home or at school. The meeting is not at home, therefore, it must be at school.

how ethics should engage with social media?

.Be mindful that some things are better-communicated face to face. we have to be the police for ourselves. When stuff is anonymous, it becomes a license for people to say anything.

3 different levels of terms

1. God terms: a word to which every other word is supportive, like "king," reflects our culture 2. devil terms: term of repulsion, like Nazi 3. Charismatic terms: more inspiring and popular for culture ("freedom")

common fallacies in persuasion:

1. Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc 2. Ad Hominem 3. Ad Populum 4. The undistributed middle 5. The straw man

The statements of a syllogism:

1. The first statement (or premise) is a generalization about a class 2. The second statement deals with a specific instance of the same class mentioned 3. The conclusion applies the characteristics of the general class to the particular individual or example

Aristotle

1. Three divisions of oratory determined by the hearer of the speech: forensic, judicial, political 2. rhetoric is not concerned with any special or definite class of subjects 3. rhetoric is useful because it upholds truth, defends the self, analyzes issues, and is useful for teaching 4. modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos, logos

Five characteristics of the Demagogue

1. Wields popular or mass leadership over an extensive number of people, 2. Exerts primary influence through the medium of the spoken word, 3. Relies heavily on propaganda, 4. Capitalizes on the availability of a major current social cause or problem, and 5. Is hypocritical.

The Toulmin Format

1. claim, data, warrant 2. qualifiers, reservation, backing

Kenneth Burke's three different types of form

1. conventional: having expectation in a situation and having that need fulfilled 2. repetitive: consistent maintaining principle of guidelines (over learning from Griffin) 3. progressive: synonym of syllogism, deductive, ending with that conclusion, step by step

Richard Weaver's 3 levels of knowledge:

1. fact; 2. beliefs, convictions, orders facts; 3. intuitive feeling about reality (deceptive truth, like Plato)

Isocrates

1. founded the first school of rhetoric, only had 9 students. Saw education as the preparation of a useful life and a public service. 2. taught for sense of application (not theory, but practical skill unlike Plato) 3. development of rhetoric can be helped taught, but only with natural talent and the practical experience of worldly affairs that trained orators to understand public issues and the psychology of the people whom they had to persuade for the common good -rhetoric is a powerful tool

I only know 8 of the 9 imperative commands from James (not on study guide, just helpful for knowing James)

1. submit to God 2. resist the devil 3. seek God, returning to Him 4. pursue purity 5. treat sin seriously 6. humble yourself and trust God 7. Don't slander 8. Do not judge

what is proof?

2 facets: evidence and reasoning

what is form according to Kenneth Burke

an arousing and fulfillment of desires or creation of an appetite in the mind of audience/ receiver and satisfying of that appetite

Types of reasoning:

cause-to-effect, effect-to-cause, reasoning from symptoms, criteria-to-application, reasoning from analogy or by comparison, deductive and inductive reasoning

effect-to-cause reasoning

citing a set of effects and concluding by identifying their cause (accidents can be caused by using cell phones)

legal perspectives (on ethics)

if the law says it is legal, then it is ethical

situational perspectives (on ethics)

in some instances, it is necessary to rally people into emotional hype (like for nationalism)

qualifiers in the Toulmin Format

limits the claim, allowing for the possibility it is not a simple claim of "either/or"

misuses of testimony?

might not prove accurate information, insignificant shifts in wording can lead witness to certain answers. Person may not be an authority on what they are discussing.

deductive reasoning

reasoning from the general to specific. Stronger reasoning, keep crossing off things that are not true. The building adds suspense. Aristotle advocated for this method. -example: Swedish people have blonde hair, Eric is blonde so he must be Swedish

warrant in the Toulmin Format

reasoning that demonstrates that the data does indeed support the claim

how can statistics be misused?

sample may not be a good representation, also trying to use a single instance as an example for all

two ways to misuse reasoning and evidence

statics and testimony

claims in the Toulmin Format

the proposition or premise that the persuader hopes will be believed, adopted, or followed by the audience