Deceptive Arguments Containing Persuasive Language and Persuasive Definitions

Argumentation 19 (2):159-186 (2005)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Using persuasive definitions and persuasive language generally to put a spin on an argument has often held to be suspicious, if not deceptive or even fallacious. However, if the purpose of a persuasive definition is to persuade, and if rational persuasion can be a legitimate goal, putting forward a persuasive definition can have a legitimate basis in some cases. To clarify this basis, the old subject of definitions is reconfigured into a new dialectical framework in which, it is argued, a definition should be evaluated in light of its purpose as a speech act. But if persuasive definitions are so often thought to be suspect, misleading, or even fallacious, how can individual cases be judged on some objective basis? In this paper, a new dialectical method of evaluating such definitions on a case-by-case basis is proposed, showing how abusive as well as reasonable uses of persuasive language can properly be identified, analyzed and evaluated.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,593

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Richard Joyce's new objections to the divine command theory.Scott Hill - 2010 - Journal of Religious Ethics 38 (1):189-196.
Exemplification and Argument.G. C. Goddu - 2012 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 42 (3-4):235-254.
Persuasive definitions.Charles Leslie Stevenson - 1938 - Mind 47 (187):331-350.
Persuasive definition.Andrew Aberdein - 1997 - In H. V. Hansen, C. W. Tindale & A. V. Colman (eds.), Argumentation and Rhetoric. Vale.
Persuasive advertising, autonomy, and the creation of desire.Roger Crisp - 1987 - Journal of Business Ethics 6 (5):413 - 418.
A normative pragmatic model of making fear appeals.Beth Innocenti - 2011 - Philosophy and Rhetoric 44 (3):273-290.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-10-30

Downloads
45 (#311,164)

6 months
7 (#175,814)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Douglas Walton
Last affiliation: University of Windsor

References found in this work

The new rhetoric: a treatise on argumentation.Chaïm Perelman - 1969 - Notre Dame, [Ind.]: University of Notre Dame Press. Edited by Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca.
Ethics and language.Charles Leslie Stevenson - 1944 - New York: AMS Press.

View all 34 references / Add more references