May 24, 2004
: Campaign maneuvers…
John Kerry’s suggestion that he might delay acceptance of his nomination and the Republican response to that suggestions, are excellent examples of heresthetics–structuring the world so you can win. The late rational-choice theorist William Riker coined the term from an ancient Greek root for “choosing.” While Riker thought heresthetics was a counterpart of rhetoric, I consider it a tactic of rhetoric.
Posted by acline | May 24, 2004 | Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (2)
I hope you might clarify what this means in a rhetorical situation: rational-choice theory. As I understand it, rational choice theory works in the manner of a calculus; rhetoric can never work in that sense since it deals only with the probable and the uncertain. To be persuaded of something is to lean toward identification with it, a sort of empathetic move since one’s perception is already inclined in that direction. Rational choice works abstractly as an assessement of the accidental properties of substances.
Michael Greer
Michael…we’re not talking rational-choice theory here. I merely mentioned it because Riker was the leading light of the Rochester School. You might read my essay on Riker’s contribution to rhetoric to see where he and I are coming from in regard to heresthetics. It’s linked in the post.