Propaganda Does Not Have to be Good or Evil
Abstract
This paper aims to demonstrate that, to discuss propaganda better, we ought to consider how its presence alters the dynamics of the milieu it influences. I examine Jason Stanley’s analysis of propaganda’s ability to undermine public deliberation and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s defense of the use of propaganda for the establishment of egalitarian political communities, to conclude that propaganda does not have a wicked nature. To strengthen the claim, I introduce an analogy between propaganda and parasitism to illustrate that propaganda establishes a non-mutual relationship with the public mind.
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