Nick
Catalano is a TV writer/producer and Professor of Literature
and Music at Pace University. He reviews books and music for
several journals and is the author of Clifford
Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter,
New York
Nights: Performing, Producing and Writing in Gotham
and A
New Yorker at Sea. His latest book, Tales
of a Hamptons Sailor, is now available. For Nick's
reviews, visit his website: www.nickcatalano.net
A demagogue
is “a political leader who tries to get support by making
false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion
rather than reason” (Merriam-Webster). Most people understand
this notion but few have knowledge of the irony involved in
its origin during a period of near miraculous political idealism
– the onset of Democracy in ancient Greece.
After
decades of political experiments in the sixth century B.C. during
which leaders (Solon, Pisistratus) grappled with the challenge
of giving justice to all citizens regardless of their economic
or social status, a revolutionary system was enacted by Cleisthenes
in 504 B.C. An assembly (ekklesia) was created in Athens
comprised of all citizens rich or poor where all could speak
on issues and vote for or against. No favoritism was given to
the wealthier or more powerful; a jury of peers would decide
the fate of a defendant during trials where arguments from all
Athenian citizens could be delivered and heard.
New
democratic assembly sessions opened with the presiding officer
asking “Who wishes to speak?” As the Athenian citizenry
(about 6000) all participated in the often vigorous debates
and discussions on the Pnyx hill under their magnificent acropolis,
it soon became obvious that those who could speak with the most
persuasive voices had the greatest say over the voters and voting.
Quickly, citizens rushed all over town seeking out teachers
who could help them orate more effectively and persuasively.
It was at that point that the art of ‘rhetoric’
came into being.
Teachers
or sophists as they became known flocked to the Agora or marketplace
in the center of Athens and held court. Those who gave the best
lessons and got the highest results made the most money. And
there is evidence that sophistry became the most coveted occupation
in the city with the most revered sophists garnering huge prestige
and influence.
Who
were the principal creators of rhetoric? Many have heard of
Protagoras, Gorgias, Socrates and Demosthenes but few know about
Coras and Tisias -- Sicilian Greeks who most scholars credit
with starting matters off about 467 B.C. What was the substance
of their teaching? What techniques of speaking marked the success
of an influential orator?
A huge
list of rhetorical terms has come down to us from antiquity.
There are hundreds of judiciously labeled and defined terms
and techniques that the sophists taught and it will serve us
to deal with only a few in order to understand the scope of
the achievements of these Athenian instructors. Credit must
also be given to the Romans who emulated the Greeks and translated
their terms into Latin expressions which are more familiar to
us.
Following
are brief examples of some techniques. For more detailed analysis
readers can consult any number of works on Rhetoric.
Syllogisms
were bedrock structures employed in mathematical and philosophical
reasoning: a) Bob is a person b) all persons are mortal c) therefore
Bob is mortal. But soon rhetoricians developed Enthymemes
which sounded like syllogisms but were based on opinion and
not logic: a) These clothes are tacky b) I am wearing these
clothes c) Therefore, I am unfashionable. Similar tricky techniques
include: Hypophora: wherein a speaker asks the audience
a question and then answers it himself i.e. “When he reminded
you of your old friendship, were you moved? No, you killed him
nevertheless.” Apophasis: wherein the speaker
brings up a subject by denying that it should be brought up:
“I forgive you your jealousy, so I won’t even mention
what a betrayal it was.” Zeugma (also called
Syllepsis): wherein a speaker uses a single word with
two other parts of a sentence but is understood differently
in each part: “Eggs and oaths are soon broken.”
There
were literally hundreds of these techniques developed by the
Sophists and utilized in political speeches. Some of the more
powerful ones were later re-labeled by the Romans and it is
these terms that moderns are more familiar with. Non Sequitur:
a statement bearing no relationship to the previous context
i.e. “He went to the same college as Bill Gates. He should
be famous too.” Argumentum Ad Populum: the appeal
to the popularity of a claim as a reason for accepting it i.e.
“the fact that the many citizens support the death penalty
proves that it is morally right.” Post hoc ergo propter
hoc: wherein the speaker claims that something causes another
thing simply because it occurred before i.e. “the current
economy’s health is determined by the actions of previous
presidents.”
There
is much evidence that when rhetoric was initially instituted
the Greeks thought that the techniques would be always used
for establishing the truth of the issue in question and never
to service any distortion of it. But as anyone can imagine it
didn’t take a genius to figure out that rhetorical expertise
would eventually be employed maliciously.
When
Aristotle came along and analyzed what had been happening since
the inception of democracy in his Rhetoric written
in 350 B.C. he immediately took note of the onset of deviousness
that had been developing over the years since persuasive rhetoric
was first taught. He wrote “Revolutions in democracies
are generally caused by the intemperance of demagogues.”
He singled out one of the most insidious techniques –
what we now refer to as argumentum ad verecundiam –
an appeal to one’s prejudice, emotions or special interest
rather than to one’s reason i.e. “How can he be
a good neighbour? He wasn’t born here.”
Aristotle
later wrote “The orator persuades by means of his hearers,
when they are roused to emotion by his speech; for the judgments
we deliver are not the same when we are influenced by joy or
sorrow, love or hate.” The influential Roman statesman
Seneca continued the warning “Reason herself, to whom
the reins of power have been entrusted, remains mistress only
so long as she is kept apart from the passions.” The comments
of the Sicilian Greek Gorgias, however, are the most dramatic:
“The power of speech has the same effect on the disposition
of the soul as the disposition of drugs on the nature of bodies.”
Unfortunately,
ever since its invention, iniquitous rhetoric has damaged reasonable
debate and often instigated deep chasms of injustice throughout
human history.
We
need only reference the horrific effects caused by Adolf Hitler
when employing argumentum ad verecundiam. Essentially, he began
by bemoaning the terrible economic conditions in post W.W. I
arousing anger and frustration in crowds he addressed. And then,
using the aforementioned illogic, he insisted that since many
prosperous businesses were owned by Jews they were to blame
for the poor economic conditions in Germany. What followed was
the horror of the holocaust. The madness all began innocuously
enough with a speaker simply appealing to the anger of the crowd
with passionate rhetoric focused on emotions and carefully omitting
rational thought.
Recently,
the same illogic has been employed by Donald Trump in his rhetoric
against Muslims. Because of the violence caused by international
terrorists (he neglects to note that much violence is attributable
to criminals of all races and creeds) he demands that America
denounce all Muslim peoples and segregate those who already
enjoy peaceful citizenship.
In
similar speeches he has deprecated, Hispanics, members of the
LGBTQ community, a Mexican judge, Afro-Americans, Native-Americans,
and Jews utilizing the same demagogic rhetoric originating thousands
of years ago.
Thus
irony and tragedy have come to us from the ancients. They thought
they were merely teaching concerned citizens to speak persuasively.
Instead they unleashed rhetorical weaponry for which we still
do not have any antidote. Demagoguery and demagogues continue
to flourish everywhere. It takes informed and aware listeners
to detect these insidious appeals to passion and prejudice and
condemn these orators of barbarism.
