This course deals with rhetoric in cultural discourse and the public sphere, focusing on the argumentative dimension. As a starting point we will see that arguments are very common in discourse: in everyday conversations, news reports, op-eds, commercials, social network communication, literary works and even visual representations.

The course will give the students tools to identify and evaluate different kinds of arguments – starting with simple and self-evident arguments to complex ones that require active analysis. We will also see various rhetorical fallacies, such as irrelevance fallacies, appeals to emotion, and arguments based on mental shortcuts. Finally, we will examine arguments based on the assumed expertise of speakers and their social status, such as arguments from authority and character.

The course presents criteria for evaluating the reliability and relevance of arguments in context, and fosters critical thinking on everyday life.