Randal Marlin Read online

  SECOND EDITION

  Propaganda

  and the

  Ethics of Persuasion

  Randal Marlin

  Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion

  second edition

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  Second Edition

  Propaganda

  and the

  Ethics of Persuasion

  Randal Marlin

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  Second Edition

  Propaganda

  and the

  Ethics of Persuasion

  Randal Marlin

  broadview press

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  © 2013 Randal Marlin

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without prior written consent of the publisher—or in the case of photocopying, a licence from Access Copyright (Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency), One Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E5—is an infringement of the copyright law.

  library and archives canada cataloguing in publication

  Marlin, Randal, 1938- author, writer of preface

  Propaganda and the ethics of persuasion / Randal Marlin.—Second edition.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 978-1-55481-091-8 (pbk.)

  1. Propaganda. 2. Persuasion (Psychology). 3. Propaganda—Canada. I. Title.

  3. Business ethics. I. Title. II. Series: Broadview guides to business and professional ethics HM1231.M37 2013 303.3’75 C2013-905670-X

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  Broadview Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.

  Edited by Betsy Struthers

  Typesetting by Em Dash Design

  This book is printed on paper

  containing 100% post-consumer fibre.

  Printed in Canada

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  To my wife Elaine, for so much help

  in so many ways, over so many years

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  Contents

  List of Illustrations ix

  Preface to the First Edition xi

  Preface to the Second Edition xv

  CHAPTER 1: Why Study Propaganda? 1

  Introduction 1

  Definition 4

  Two Major Propaganda Theorists: George Orwell and Jacques El ul 14

  Plan of the Book 30

  CHAPTER 2: History of Propaganda 35

  Introduction 35

  Athens 36

  Rome 43

  The Early Christian Era 45

  From the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment 46

  The French Revolution and Its Aftermath 48

  Later Nineteenth-Century Developments 53

  British Propaganda in World War I 55

  Leninist Propaganda 71

  Nazi Propaganda 75

  World War II to the Present Day, In Brief 83

  Conclusion 84

  CHAPTER 3: Propaganda Technique: An Analysis 91

  Introduction 91

  Overview 92

  Devices Involving Language Manipulation 99

  Non-Verbal Techniques 118

  Conclusion 135

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  CHAPTER 4: Ethics and Propaganda 139

  Introduction: What Is Ethics? 139

  Ethical Theories 140

  The Morality of Lying 144

  Misleading without Actually Lying 164

  The Ethics of Communication 166

  On the Ethics of Propaganda 172

  Conclusion: Propaganda and Autonomy 178

  CHAPTER 5: Advertising and Public Relations Ethics 183

  Introduction 183

  Advertising 183

  Public Relations Ethics 195

  Conclusion 212

  CHAPTER 6: Freedom of Expression: Some Classical Arguments 217

  Introduction 217

  John Milton 219

  John Stuart Mill 222

  Modern Communications Media: A Free and Open Encounter? 236

  Additional Free Speech Arguments 238

  Conclusion 244

  CHAPTER 7: The Question of Controls 247

  Introduction 247

  Controls on Hate Propaganda 247

  Advertising 252

  Government Controls on the Media 268

  The Media Controls Itself 277

  Government Information 281

  Addendum, 2012 295

  CHAPTER 8: Propaganda, Democracy, and the Internet 307

  The Achievements and Promise of the Internet 307

  Uncertainties and Negative Features 314

  Strategies for Democratizing the Net 319

  Propaganda Analysis 335

  Conclusion 339

  Bibliography 345

  Index 355

  viii PROPAGANDA AND THE ETHICS OF PERSUASION

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  List of Il ustrations

  Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger Cover 67

  AOL Obama Picture 92

  “Soldiers Al ” 97

  “Jewels Among Swine” 99

  Two-Dimensional Figures 132

  BDV Cigarettes Advertisement 184

  “Lord Kitchener Wants You” 184

  “I Want You for U.S. Army” 184

  Colin Powell Holding “Anthrax” 299

  Canadian National Vimy Memorial 340

  ix

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  Preface to the First Edition

  The draft of this book was completed before the terrorist attacks of 9/11, but much

  of it has relevance to events surrounding that tragedy. The forms of prior and ensu-

  ing propaganda have many historical antecedents; hopefully, this book will provide

  illuminating parallels and analytical tools with which to assess it. Some of the ideas

  here draw inspiration from Albe
rt Camus, who grew up in Algeria, a country that

  lived through as intense and vicious a terrorist war as has occurred anywhere. As the

  United States and its allies decide how to handle al-Qaeda or other pris oners from

  Afghanistan, they might bear in mind Camus’s sage remarks: “Torture has perhaps

  saved some, at the expense of honour, by uncovering thirty bombs, but at the same

  time it arouses fifty new terrorists who, operating in some other way and in another

  place, will cause the death of even more innocent people.”1 A primary purpose of

  this book is to arouse a critical spirit among readers against being corral ed by forces

  and emotions of the moment into supporting actions that in conscience they will or

  should later come to regret. There are many spe cial interests skillful at manipulating

  circumstances and communications in such a way as to benefit their own ends and not

  necessarily the public good. Hopefully this book will serve as an eye-opener to those

  who are not yet media-savvy.

  My indebtedness goes back a long way, and to many different people: acknowl-

  edgement is a pleasure. I learned about the impact of layout and typog raphy on con-

  sciousness while working on the student newspaper at Princeton University. Larry

  DuPraz initiated countless generations of Princeton undergraduates to the intrica-

  cies of the journalistic art, and I was lucky to be one of those to benefit, in the late

  1950s, from his enthusiasm. That was also a time when James Ridgeway, Bill Greider,

  xi

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  Bob Sklar, Don Kirk, and others got sufficiently under the university administration’s skin that it organized a series of talks by some of the most distinguished journalists

  of the time, who left behind a last ing impression on matters of journalistic ethics.

  Even before that, Rev. Timothy Horner, OSB and the late Rev. Columba Cary-Elwes,

  OSB had started me on the path of philosophy while I was at Ampleforth College

  in England; we kept in touch over the decades. Father Timothy steered me towards

  Quintus Cicero and away from false etymologies. Of the many different professors

  along the way who have supported my career through inspiration or practical assis-

  tance, I owe spe cial thanks to Gregory Vlastos, Raymond Klibansky, Ronald Butler,

  Robert McRae, and the late G.E.L. Owen, H.L.A. Hart, A.J. Ayer, and John Hunter.

  More directly connected with this book was my encounter with Jacques El ul in 1979-

  80, and I have the Department of National Defence to thank for the year in Bordeaux

  where this took place. Contact with Robert Escarpit was also inspiring, and I have

  Jacques and Nicole Palard to thank for vital practical advice and help. In the same year,

  William Shawcross kindly gave me an inter view, sharing some of his insights concern-

  ing media manipulation by Henry Kissinger. DND agreed with my argument that a

  country’s defence requires it to be knowledgeable about propaganda as well as military

  matters. Since pro paganda is a tool that can also be misused by officials with their own

  axes to grind, my concern was to pursue the goal of educating the public about the

  nature of propaganda, rather than to restrict the knowledge to a control ing group. I

  chose the path of educating the public by giving the course “Truth and Propaganda”

  at Carleton University; it has attracted a generous supply of good students for over

  two decades. This book is largely the outcome of that teaching. I have the students to

  thank for bringing me up to date on trends I would otherwise have missed.

  Carleton has been especially generous in letting me follow my bent, even though

  this involved straying from the constraints of traditional disciplinary boundaries.

  Along the way various deans have provided financial support: Aviva Freedman, Janice

  Yalden, Stuart Adam, and Naomi Griffiths. The Canada Council supported work

  on Fitzjames Stephen in 1974, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research

  Council provided a grant in 2000 for the present work; thanks to both of these coun-

  cils. Among colleagues at other universities I am grateful for the stimulation pro-

  vided by members of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social

  Philosophy. Stan Cunningham has communicated helpfully on our shared interest

  in propaganda. Numerous col leagues at Carleton, from many different disciplines,

  deserve thanks: these include Henry Mayo, Patrick Fitzgerald, Bert Halsall, Trevor

  Hodge, George Fraikor, Bob Gould, Basil Mogridge, Jutta Goheen, Doug Wurtele,

  Josh Beer, Carter Elwood, Duncan McDowell, Jacob Kovalio, Lloyd Strickland,

  Roland Jeffreys, Tom and Marilyn Henighan, Bruce MacFarlane, Sidney Wise, Jean-

  Jacques van Vlasselaer, Klaus Pohle, and Patrick MacFadden, as well as current and

  former members of my own Department of Philosophy.

  xii PROPAGANDA AND THE ETHICS OF PERSUASION

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  From outside the university, I am grateful for information and ideas from many current or former civil servants, in particular Keith Wilde, Arthur Cordell, and others in a group organized by Ray Jackson. Fellow members of the executive of the Civil

  Liberties Association, National Capital Region, have spurred my interest in issues

  such as the media treatment of David Levine, and Errol Sharpe has my thanks for

  publishing my work on that subject. Peter Calamai went out of his way to show me

  the inner sanctum of the Ottawa Citizen and put me in touch with members of the

  editorial staff. The sparring with Peter and other contributors (they know who they

  are) to the Propaganda and Media bulletin board at the National Capital Freenet has

  been instructive. Clyde Sanger kindly read and commented on a portion of the pres-

  ent manuscript. Librarians have given gen erously of their time and expertise; Nancy

  Peden, Frances Montgomery, and Barbara Harris are among those most involved in

  my area of study.

  A sabbatical spent in Oxford in 1987–88 put me in communication with help ful

  philosophers and classicists. C.C.W. Taylor, G.A. Cohen, and John Flemming facili-

  tated library or personal contacts. The Ockham Society provided incisive crit icism of

  some of my initial thoughts on propaganda. The late Sybil Wolfram was most encour-

  aging in an editorial capacity during this time. Trinity College helped with lodgings,

  and St. Benet’s Hall brought contact with some pertinent medieval scholarship. In the

  same year an invitation from the University of York provided incentive for more work

  on Fitzjames Stephen.

  Another sabbatical at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1994–95, gave me a new set of

  valuable colleagues in philosophy and library access to materials that have become

  important for the ethical core of the present work. Thanks here are due to then-Dean

  Barbara Wright. I have the Irish Philosophy Club to thank for good criticism of some

  of the present thoughts on propaganda at its annual meet ing at Ballymascanlon. While

  visiting Queen’s University in Belfast, I came in touch with Jonathan Gorman and his

  thoughts on William Joyce, useful for the present study. The same year brought valu-

  able contact with Robert Fisk and the Irish Times cartoonist, Martyn Turner.

  I owe thanks to the helpful staff of many
other institutions: Tony Richards

  and others at the Imperial War Museum, the Public Record Office, and the British

  Library, particularly Colindale; Frans Van Wijnsberghe of the Bibliothèque Royale

  de Belgique; Ben Primer and the Princeton University Seely G. Mudd Manuscript

  Library; the Bordeaux University Library; the Cambridge University Library; the

  National Library of Canada; the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense in Milan; and vari-

  ous smaller libraries.

  I am most grateful to Michael Harrison of Broadview Press and its reviewers for

  helping this book along. Betsy Struthers did an outstanding job of copy-edit ing, and I

  have to thank her especially for pruning a lot of distracting material and thus making

  arguments clearer. She tightened up a lot of unnecessary verbosity and made valuable

  PREFACE To THE FIRST EDITIon xiii

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  suggestions for modifications and additions. Whatever merits this book may have owe a lot to her substantial efforts.

  A conference on “Truth and Propaganda” organized by the Centre of Professional

  Ethics at Strathmore College in Nairobi, Kenya took place only a few days after the

  events of 9/11 and gave me added reason to draw connections between those events

  and the concerns in this book. I would like to thank Strathmore and the many

  thoughtful participants at that conference for giving me much to mull over for the

  future.

  My family have been most helpful with comments over the years: parents, sis ters

  and brothers, wife and children. My daughter Christine made many good edi torial

  suggestions. I have to give special thanks to my wife Elaine for putting up with all

  the absences and distractions that work on a book requires, as well as pro viding most