Persuasion in Theory and Practice: Classical Foundations, Modern Approaches, Discourse Applications

Persuasion in Theory and Practice: Classical Foundations, Modern Approaches, and Discourse Applications offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary exploration of persuasion as one of the most pervasive and influential forms of human communication. Integrating insights from rhetoric, social psychology, communication studies, discourse analysis, linguistics, neuroscience, and computational research, the book traces the development of persuasion theory from its classical origins in the works of Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian to contemporary approaches shaped by digital media, artificial intelligence, and data-driven communication. The volume examines the conceptual foundations of persuasion, distinguishing it from coercion, manipulation, and information transmission while emphasizing attitudes as the central construct underlying persuasive influence. A major contribution of the book is its integration of psychological and linguistic perspectives. It explores how persuasive meanings are constructed through discourse, metadiscourse, appraisal resources, rhetorical strategies, and multimodal communication across diverse contexts.