Rhetorical Red Flags: Watch For These Linguistic Traps
The following is adapted from Restoring Reason by Dr. Travis M. Corcoran.
Rhetoric has two faces. If a person is a skilled rhetorician, they can make the worse argument appear the stronger, particularly if the listeners are weak in the liberal arts.
One of the most common examples of manipulative rhetoric is the use of talismanic words. Politicians in particular use this all the time, but the use of talismanic words is more widespread than just politics. Talismanic words are vague terms like hope, forward progress, change — words that can mean almost anything unless specifics are provided.
This rhetorical trick works because these words have positive and uplifting connotations, while being essentially void of meaning. And the speakers know that the void will be filled with meaning by the listeners, who want to feel good about what they are hearing.
As poet and diplomat Octavio Paz said, “The relations between rhetoric and ethics are disturbing: the ease with which language can be twisted is worrisome, and the fact that our minds accept these perverse games so docilely is no less cause for concern.”
Rhetorical Red Flags to Watch For
One way to avoid falling victim to these tricks is to know what to watch for. Here are some of the most common rhetorical techniques people use when they want to win you over to their side.
Straw Man Argument
This occurs when someone restates an argument or claim in a distorted way and then attacks the weakness of the distortion.
Example:
Senator Adams says that the nation should not open the borders. Senator Barnes says that he is disappointed that Senator Adams hates and fears foreigners.
It may be that Senator Adams loves and embraces foreigners, but merely wants to better account for their admission to the country in order to ensure their safety and proper rights or benefits. Senator Barnes, however, distorts Senator Adams’s claim to make him appear hateful and unappealing.
Appeal to Authority
The validity of reasoned arguments cannot be contingent on the person or institution making that argument. Reason is rooted in logically combining premises and has nothing to do with the person stating those premises. Watch out for subtle versions of this.
Example 1:
Leading scientists and many scientific research papers show that smoking cigarettes is not addictive and does not cause cancer. (It is not scientists or even research papers that prove something true. It is accurate premises combined logically.)
Example 2:
Professor Dinkley is the foremost leading biologist in the world and he says that evolution is true. (Evolution may or may not be true. However, if it is true, it is not because an expert stated that it is true, but because of the preponderance of evidence.)
Social Conformity
Often couched as a “call to the greater good,” this is actually a means of enforcing social behaviors the speaker wants to control.
Example:
A lot of people think this politician is a hostile war monger, therefore this politician is a hostile war monger. (What people “think about” a politician does not define the truth of statements about the politician.)
Appeal to Emotions
Is a speaker calling on your pity, your revulsion, or your “wanting it to be true” to persuade you? If what they are proposing doesn’t logically solve what they claim, don’t get swayed by emotional appeals.
Example:
The claim is that electrical power lines cause cancer. If someone says, “My seven-year-old son died of cancer and we live fifteen kilometers from electrical power lines. Just before he died in agonizing pain he asked me if I would fight to have those electrical power lines removed so that no more children would have to suffer like him.” (While you could obviously sympathize with this speaker, nothing in the statement proves the claim.)
Keep Your Eyes Peeled for Red Flags
Your job as an individual of reason is to be aware of these subtle cues and filter them out. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by irrelevancies. Institutions like politics, academia, and Legacy Media depend on viewers like you staying ignorant to their techniques.
Now that you know the techniques they use to manipulate your emotions, you can keep a more watchful eye on their deceit. The easier it is to call out the lies, the more informed and knowledgeable you will be about popular narratives in modern society.
For more advice on reason and rhetoric, you can find Restoring Reason on Amazon.
Dr. Travis Corcoran is a philosopher and liberal arts enthusiast who helps aspiring scholars properly pursue a self-taught education. In addition to owning and operating several healthcare practices in the Netherlands, Dr. Corcoran mentors new graduates on the first three of seven classical liberal arts. Previously, Dr. Corcoran studied nuclear power while serving in the U.S. military and earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy with a minor in biology. He serves on two international boards of directors and, as a college president, donates his time and finances to principled research. Apart from always learning, Dr. Corcoran’s favorite hobbies include rock climbing and teaching.
