Emozioni e linguaggio nella sfera pubblica: perché non possiamo fare a meno della retorica
Abstract
Starting from the second half of the last century, the notion of public sphere has acquired a growing role in Western democracies. Referring to the discursive situations and the communicative processes through which it is possible to reach an opinion on issues of common interest, the public sphere fulfills, in fact, a fundamental function subjecting public discussion to a critical scrutiny. On the other hand, in recent times the progressive degradation to which the public sphere has faced has been underlined by many. A degradation very often attributed to the predominant role that emotions play in it (for example, we can consider the debate around the definition of post-truth). Going back to the theoretical model provided by (ancient) rhetoric, I will try, however, to show that such a thesis, with its inevitable corollary represented by the need to neutralize passions, arises from a misunderstanding of the intertwining of emotions and language in the public sphere. To better highlight the strengths of the rhetorical model, I will also propose a comparison with the two main theories of democracy currently in circulation, “deliberative democracy” and “agonistic democracy
Riferimenti bibliografici
Abizadeh, Arash (2007), «On the philosophy/rhetoric binaries. Or, is Habermasian discourse motivationally impotent?», in Philosophy & Social Criticism, 33, 4, pp. 445-472.
Aristotele, Retorica, traduzione e note di M. Dorati, Mondadori, Milano 1996.
Bächtiger, Andreas (et alii) (2010), «Disentangling Diversity in Deliberative Democracy: Competing Theories, Their Blind Spots and Complementarities», in The Journal of Political Philosophy, 18, 1, pp. 32-63.
Centrone, Bruno (2015), «Phobos nella Retorica di Aristotele: tra emozione istintiva e cognizione complessa», in, Centrone Bruno, a cura di, La Retorica di Aristotele e la dottrina delle passioni, Pisa University Press, Pisa, pp. 143-170.
Dewey, John (1993), The Public and its Problems, Ohio University Press, Athens (OH).
Di Piazza, Salvatore; Piazza, Francesca; Serra, Mauro (2018a), «Rhetorical deliberation. A sustainable normativism from a Gorgianic-Aristotelian perspective», in Paradigmi, XXXVI, 3, pp. 427-442.
Di Piazza, Salvatore; Piazza, Francesca; Serra, Mauro (2018b), «The Need for More Rhetoric in the Public Sphere. A Challenging Thesis About Post-Truth», in Versus, 127, 2, pp. 225-242.
Dow, Jamie (2015), Passions and Persuasion in Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York.
Dryzek, John (2002), Deliberative Democracy and Beyond, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York.
Jörke, Dirk (2014), «Rhetoric as Deliberation or Manipulation? About Aristotle’s Rhetoric and its Misuse on Recent Literature», in Redescription, 17, 1, pp. 68-85.
Gensini, Stefano (2012), a cura di, Filosofie della comunicazione. Tra semiotica, linguistica e scienze sociali, Carocci, Roma.
Gorgia, Testimonianze e frammenti, a cura di R. Ioli, Carocci, Roma 2013.
Gross, Daniel (2010), «Systematically Distorted Communication: An Impediment to Social and Political Change», in Informal Logic, 30, 4, pp. 335-360.
Kim, Joohan; Kim, Eun Joo (2008), «Theorizing Dialogic Deliberation: Everyday Political talk as Communicative Action and Dialogue», in Communication Theory, 18, pp. 51-70.
Krause, Sharon (2008), Civil Passions: Moral Sentiment and Democratic Deliberation. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Lauritzen, Espen A. (2014), «Persuading through Pity and Fear: Arizstotle’s Account of the Emotions in the Rhetoric», in Nordlit, 33, pp. 139-158.
McCready-Flora, Ian (2013), «Aristotle’s Cognitive Science: Belief, Affect and Rationality», in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 89, 2, pp. 394-435.
Mcintyre, Lee (2018), Post-Truth, MIT Press, Boston (MA).
Mouffe, Chantal (2000), The Democratic Paradox, Verso, London.
Mouffe, Chantal (2013), Agonistics. Thinking the World Politically, Verso, London (Il conflitto democratico, trad. di D. Ferrante, Mimesis, Milano, 2015).
Mouffe, Chantal (2014), «By Way of Postscrpt», Parallax, 20, 2, 2014, pp.149-157.
Mouffe, Chantal (2019), For a Left Populism, Verso, London.
Moss, Jessica (2012), Aristotle on the Apparent Good. Perception, Phantasia, Thought and Desire, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Neblo, Michael A. (s.d.), «Impassioned Democracy: The Role of Emotion in Deliberative Theory», accessibile al seguente indirizzo https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7803/c33744b78c6ee8288b31dbc91baa2358a585.pdf?_ga=2.41877345.293861907.1580073873-1890788660.1580073873.
Nussbaum, Martha (1994), The Therapy of Desire, Princeton University Press, Princeton (NJ).
O’Connell, Peter A. (2017), The Rhetoric of Seeing in Attic Forensic Oratory, University of Texas Press, Austin.
Piazza, Francesca (2008), La retorica di Aristotele, Carocci, Roma.
Privitera, Walter (2010), Per una politica della sfera pubblica, in C. Papa, a cura di, Vivere la democrazia, costruire la sfera pubblica, Ediesse, Roma, pp. 237-253.
Pearson, Giles (2014), «Aristotle and the Cognitive Component of Emotions», in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, 46, pp. 165-211.
Rossi, Maria Grazia (2013), Il giudizio del sentimento, Editori Riuniti University Press, Roma.
Saam, Nicole J. (2018), «Recognizing the Emotion Work in Deliberation. Why Emotions Do Not Make Deliberative Democracy More Democratic», in Political Psychology, 39, 4, pp.755-774.
Sandel, Adam A. (2014), The Place of Prejudice. A Case for Reasoning within the World, Harvard University Press, Boston (MA).
Urbinati, Nadia (2020), Io, il popolo. Come il populismo trasforma la democrazia, Il Mulino, Bologna.
Yack. Bernard (2006), «Rhetoric and Public Reasoning: An Aristotelian Understanding of Political Deliberation», in Political Theory, 34, 4, pp. 417-438.
Young Iris M. (2000), Inclusion and Democracy, Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York.
Questo lavoro è fornito con la licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 4.0 Internazionale.
Quest'opera è distribuita con Licenza Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
