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Social & Political Commentary, Philosophy, Satirical Cartoons

Von Clausewitz

April 9, 2021

Hume on Persuasion.

In On War Carl Von Clausewitz says war is a continuation of politics by other means. Or cf. Foucault, who suggests this definition might be the inverted: politics is a continuation of war by other means. My interest is in the ‘other means’, which include political rhetoric. Broadly defined, rhetoric is “the power of observing the means Continue reading

Philosophy, Political Rhetoric

aristotle, Hume, oratory, political, politics, rhetoric, Von Clausewitz, war
November 15, 2020

A meditation on the character of a political speaker and, by extension, a voter (Oct. 31/20 with Nov. 15/20 addendum)

Loosely put, rhetoric is the art of persuasion. More specifically, on Aristotle’s definition, rhetoric is “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” We all use rhetoric to convince others of some thing or other, but some of us are more skilled than others to this end. Some become especially Continue reading

Political Rhetoric, Social and Political Commentary

aristotle, armagedon, Biden, character, dark, election, ethos, evil, extreme, foreign, good, goodness, interference, light, logos, media, pathos, rhetoric, Trump, truth, Von Clausewitz, war