'Persuade through force of reason' --- Thanks for raising this point, Desiree. I agree that 'coerce' has negative connotations and suggests that there is something objectionable to this type of persuasion. Interestingly, the word 'force' in the phrase 'force of reason', while coming from the same semantic field, does not carry any such negative associations. I will replace coerce with persuade!

As for the claim being made, it is indeed interesting that facts tend to have the 'final word' closing an argument by means of 'infallible' and 'undeniable' evidence. This prioritisation of logos goes back to the ancient Greeks (as Blanca's HT on the primacy of logos suggests). What we have come to understand since is that our understanding of the facts and of relevant evidence is open to change and reinterpretation, inviting us to question the finality of many (not all) evidence-based arguments.

Source author: Biljana Scott biscott@diplomacy.edu