{"product_id":"9781666978537","title":"Aristotle’s Anti-Populist Art of Rhetoric: Defending the Rule of Law Through Benign Manipulation Defending the Rule of Law Through Benign Manipulation","description":"\u003ch1\u003eAristotle’s Anti-Populist Art of Rhetoric: Defending the Rule of Law Through Benign Manipulation\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDefending the Rule of Law Through Benign Manipulation\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDaniel DiLeo\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003ePolitical Science \/ Political Ideologies \/ Democracy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003eDaniel DiLeo identifies Aristotle's\u003ci\u003e Art of Rhetoric\u003c\/i\u003e as a means of preserving the lawful systems of rule that make the inculcation of human excellence possible. This entails resistance to what he perceived as the lawlessness of regime-destabilizing extreme democracy and of what we experience today as populism. Since they both arise through the effectiveness of demagogic rhetoric, Aristotle arms those opposed to it with their own effective, but potentially benign art of rhetoric. \u003cbr\u003eDiLeo demonstrates that Aristotle's assessment of the wisdom of actual multitudes was quite negative. He challenges recent scholarship attributing inherent tendencies to yield politically prudent outcomes to the practice of Aristotle's rhetorical art, absent any guidance by speakers of superior political prudence. He then shows how Aristotle's principal rhetorical tactics, maxims, metaphors, and topics are instruments of manipulation.\u003cbr\u003eDaniel DiLeo then notes how Aristotle shifted longings of elites away from honors allocated by the many to a concern for the human good and argues that even if Martin Luther King, Jr. privately and plausibly believed the heroes of the Bible were in fact “otherworldly,” and doubted that America's founders strove for what is just by nature, his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was nevertheless supremely benign.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eDaniel DiLeo is associate professor of political science at Penn State Altoona. He received his B.A. and Ph.D. at Temple University, where he studied under Aryeh Botwinick and Ellis Katz.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e01 October 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781666978537\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e256\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e16.0\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55340105760908,"sku":"9781666978537","price":108.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_cf7ed4be-6dde-488c-bad3-ccb31d40bcc4.jpg?v=1788035122","url":"https:\/\/lateknightbooks.com\/products\/9781666978537","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}