Abstract

This paper aims to demonstrate that, to discuss propaganda better, we ought to consider how its presence alters the dynamics of the milieu it influences. I examine Jason Stanley’s analysis of propaganda’s ability to undermine public deliberation and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s defense of the use of propaganda for the establishment of egalitarian political communities, to conclude that propaganda does not have a wicked nature. To strengthen the claim, I introduce an analogy between propaganda and parasitism to illustrate that propaganda establishes a non-mutual relationship with the public mind.