The Rhetoric of Manipulation
Unmasking Semantic Perversions
$40.49
- Paperback
216 pages
- Release Date
20 March 2025
Summary
A provocative and timely look at how language is used to manipulate the truth, how our gullibility leaves us susceptible to manipulation, and what we can do to reverse these trends.
The Rhetoric of Manipulation looks behind the curtain of political and social communications in the age of “fake news” and the “post-truth” to show how the perversely engineered semantics at work today shapes culture and undermines reality. While language has always been manipulat…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9798765100813 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Prof Robert Harvey, Robert Harvey |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |
| Imprint: | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 216 |
| Release Date: | 20 March 2025 |
| Weight: | 301g |
| Dimensions: | 14mm x 152mm x 228mm |
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Critics Review
Harvey’s writing is poetic and witty, his concepts bold, and his message from the front cover to the end terrifying. This clear, honest account of the current state of rhetoric as it is being manipulated makes this book not only worthwhile but necessary. * CHOICE *
An impassioned investigation into the creeping co-option of language, Robert Harvey examines the militarization of terminology, the misuse of ‘ironic’ scare quotes, the demonization of Critical Race Theory, ‘cancel culture’ and ‘wokeism,’ and the suppression of critical positions so integral to the humanities. With Victor Klemperer’s detailed account of the Nazification of language as a key reference point and Jean-François Lyotard’s Critical Watch as our guide, the seemingly inconsequential transformation of everyday speech takes an Orwellian turn. The Rhetoric of Manipulation is an important, careful critique in the face of proliferating semantic perversions. * Kiff Bamford, Professor of Art and Philosophy, Leeds Beckett University, UK *
The Rhetoric of Manipulation couldn’t come at a better time. In it, Robert Harvey critiques loose and unscrupulous uses of language and compellingly warns of the dangers of semantic imprecision. Harvey’s wit and dazzling way with words make this book fun to read even as it points us to terrifying realities. * Anne Brancky, Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Vassar College, USA *
In the most eloquent way, Harvey’s book systematically points out and analyzes the pitfalls of the present slumber of reason and the monsters it produces. Must-read reading in the age of manipulation! * Sverre Raffnsøe, Professor of Philosophy, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark *
Prof Robert Harvey
Robert Harvey is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Philosophy, Stony Brook University, USA. His publications include Sharing Common Ground: A Space for Ethics (Bloomsbury, 2017), Parmi les gisants: penser le cimetière (2024), and Witnessness: Beckett, Levi, Dante and the Foundations of Ethics (Continuum, 2010).
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