Journal of Cogency:
for the philosophical study of power
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Fact and Propaganda
As I work up to a commentary on Jacques Ellul’s Propaganda, I realized that I would need to have a good understanding of what a fact is. One of the key points that Ellul makes is that propaganda is not simply composed of lies, it is primarily (especially in modern times) founded upon accurate details…
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The Propaganda Machine
The following is an excerpt from a draft commentary I’m working on, going through Ellul’s Propaganda chapter by chapter, section by section. Have I talked about bouncing off Ellul’s work before? Yes, I have. Why am I returning to it now? I wanted to refine my thoughts on persuasion and propaganda, so I thought the…
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Circles of Belief
A brief essay about the social structure of belief, using examples of religion, science, and professional wrestling.
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Economized Spaces
I’ve spoken briefly about working on a theory of economized and non-economized spaces before. This is where I’m going to explain what I mean by all that. This article is going to be fairly abstract, largely because I have not found the kind of evidence that I really want yet. What I was hoping to…
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The Joy and Duty of Expropriation
“Expropriate” is one of my favorite words. It has a distinct communistic air about it, being used so frequently to described robberies as conducted by Stalin, and then to state seizures conducted by the Soviets and by the Chinese communists. It brings to mind horror and revolution; horror for the haves, revolution for the have-nots.…
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Anti-Manifesto for a New Vanguard Theory Group
A list of 21 questions that a new American leftist theory should make its priority to answer. A call to form a New Vanguard Theory Group.
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Defining General Fascism
Here I give a refinement of my definition of general fascism as the launchpad for analyzing historical states.
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Why Propaganda Works
“American sociologists scientifically try to play down the effectiveness of propaganda because they cannot accept the idea that the individual—that cornerstone of democracy—can be so fragile; and because they retain their ultimate trust in man.” This is a line from early in Jacques Ellul’s book Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes (Propagandes in the original…
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Palestine: A Virtuous Cause
I’ve just finished the book The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi and I found it very illuminating. The greatest impact it’s had on my thinking so far, and what I will be digesting for some time, is how the book changed my view of the Palestinian side of the conflict. This is…
Which side are you on?
Ten thousand years or more in jet black meditation. Now I stand here, hands are sore, but that’s my motivation.
— High on Fire, “10,000 Years”