Implicitation and power of choice
Abstract
In democracy (and free market) the actual power of choice enjoyed by individuals is reduced by persuasive practices. The paper focuses on one of them: linguistic implicits when used as a strategy to reduce epistemic vigilance on conveyed information, ensuring acceptance of questionable or even false contents by addressees. The evolutionary and cognitive bases for this are briefly explored. Examples of implicits of content (implicatures and vague expressions) and implicits of responsibility (presuppositions) when exploited for persuasion in political speeches, social network posts by politicians and printed propaganda are given. The article proposes that widespread awareness of this phenomenon should be one of the indispensable ingredients for authentically democratic cohabitation.References
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