Abstract: It is commonly assumed that not-at-issue speech is more persuasive than at-issue speech because it is exploited by those who are incentivized to persuade. Empirical work supports this assumption. An important question, then, for those interested in understanding and combating the spread of misinformation, is why content is more persuasive when presented as not-at-issue. I argue that commonly proposed normative explanations are inadequate and draw on work in discourse theory and cognitive science to offer a new, broadly cognitive one: Not-at-issue speech is attended to less than at-issue speech because of its subordinated position in discourse structure. It is more persuasive because it is processed under load, and under such conditions people are prone to make mistakes. We err on the side of belief rather than disbelief because rejection is more effortful than belief.
About: Jessica Keiser is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science at the University of Leeds. Working at the intersection of philosophy of language and social/political philosophy, Keiser explores the role of language as a tool for social and political action. In the recent book Non-Ideal Foundations of Language (Routledge 2022), Keiser argues that the major traditions in the philosophy of language have mistakenly focused on highly idealized linguistic contexts of cooperative information exchange, instead proposing a non-ideal theory according to which the essential function of language is to direct attention for the purpose of achieving diverse—and sometimes conflicting—social and political goals. Currently, Keiser is exploring the social and political ramifications of this picture of language, and is particularly interested in how recent work in cognitive science can inform the ethics of attention-direction in relation to language use, especially in online contexts.
For more about Jessica Keiser, see the webpage.
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