Politics Knowledge and Power, Cognitive Biases and Bounded Rationality, Framing and Rhetoric

Plato

Only those who grasp true knowledge (Forms) are fit to rule

Myth of the Cave

Citizens mistake appearances for reality; rulers must escape the.

Descartes

Only the thinking self can be known with certainty—doubts sensory knowledge.

Kant

Human perception filters knowledge; science reveals appearances, not moral truths.

Hume’s law

Moral statements can’t be derived from facts alone

Popper

Political power shouldn’t rest on science. Truth emerges from open debate.

Kelsen

 Legal systems are self-contained; law reflects power more than moral truth

Saint Augustine (Alexander and Pirate)

Justice depends on power. The same act (e.g., conquest) is judged differently based on scale

Herbert Simon

People make decisions with limited information and time—bounded rationality.

Kahneman & Tversky

People rely on heuristics

Anchoring

Overweighting initial info

Availability

Judging likelihood by recent memory

Representativeness

Matching to stereotypes

Confirmation Bias

Seeking info that fits beliefs

Present Bias

Preferring immediate rewards

Optimism Bias

Unrealistic positivity

Status Quo Bias

Preference for current state

Action Bias

Need to do something, even when best action is inaction

Frequency Illusion

After noticing something, it seems everywhere

System 1

Fast, emotional, automatic, prone to error.

System 2

Slow, rational, logical, but mentally taxing

Entman (1993)

 Framing highlights parts of reality to shape interpretation

Lakoff

Words activate frames—"tax relief" vs. "public funding."

Asian Disease Problem

Risk preference shifts depending on framing (gain vs. loss)

Plato

Rhetoric, used by Sophists, misleads by appealing to opinion over truth.

Aristotle’s Rhetorical Appeals

Logos, Ethos, Pathos

Logos

Logical argument, evidence

Ethos

Speaker’s credibility.

Pathos

Emotional engagement with audience.

Leaderization

Focus on personality over policy or institutions.

Personalization

Candidates as brands—relatable stories and image-building

Emotional Politics

Identity and emotion sway voters more than logic

Sensationalism

Media use of shock to attract attention; distorts seriousness

Economy of Attention

Information overload means attention is the real currency

Dichotomic Thinking

Reduces complex issues to binaries—"us vs. them."

First Face

Decision-making power—visible authority in action

Second Face

Agenda-setting power—keeping issues off the table entirely