Location
Room 1
Document Type
Paper
Keywords
argumentation, conviction, logic, persuasion, reasoning, rhetoric
Start Date
4-6-2020 10:00 AM
End Date
4-6-2020 11:00 AM
Abstract
I’ll propose a distinction based on historical, theoretical, and linguistic considerations between:
- two different ways of inducing a change of mind, that is persuading and convincing.
- two different ways of proving, that is rhetorical argumentation and logical-experimental demonstration.
There is a tendency to keep a distance from persuasion in favor of conviction. In everyday language, the difference between the two terms appears clear, and it is a distinction developed theoretically by many authors from Plato and Kant to Perelman. In particular:
1. Persuasion is centered chiefly on the speaker: it enhances one’s will and ability to modify other people’s opinions and behavior; conviction is centered chiefly on the addressee and focuses on one’s capacity of being convinced and of evaluating rationally. The convinced addressee is more active and enterprising than the persuaded addressee, who remains more passive and receptive.
2. The act of persuading should be basically connected to the idea of a process and of belief, while the act of convincing should be basically connected to the idea of a product and of evidence.
Reader's Reactions
Marcin Koszowy, Should logos be opposed to ethos? Commentary on Adelino Cattani’s ‘Persuading and convincing’ (June 2020)
Included in
Persuading and convincing
Room 1
I’ll propose a distinction based on historical, theoretical, and linguistic considerations between:
- two different ways of inducing a change of mind, that is persuading and convincing.
- two different ways of proving, that is rhetorical argumentation and logical-experimental demonstration.
There is a tendency to keep a distance from persuasion in favor of conviction. In everyday language, the difference between the two terms appears clear, and it is a distinction developed theoretically by many authors from Plato and Kant to Perelman. In particular:
1. Persuasion is centered chiefly on the speaker: it enhances one’s will and ability to modify other people’s opinions and behavior; conviction is centered chiefly on the addressee and focuses on one’s capacity of being convinced and of evaluating rationally. The convinced addressee is more active and enterprising than the persuaded addressee, who remains more passive and receptive.
2. The act of persuading should be basically connected to the idea of a process and of belief, while the act of convincing should be basically connected to the idea of a product and of evidence.
