About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

76 Md. L. Rev. 663 (2016-2017)
Neurorhetoric, Race, and the Law: Toxic Neural Pathways and Healing Alternatives

handle is hein.journals/mllr76 and id is 681 raw text is: NEURORHETORIC, RACE, AND THE LAW: TOXIC NEURAL PATHWAYS AND HEALING ALTERNATIVES LUCY JEWEL* INTRODUCTION Persuasion happens in both the brain and the body. Departing from a Cartesian view of rationality, neuroscience explains that the mind and the body are highly integrated. It is a fallacy to believe that we engage with ar- guments in an abstract, analytical, and unemotional fashion. Instead, neu- roscience explains that when rhetoric influences us, it does so in an embod- ied way, triggering electrochemical reactions that traverse our neural pathways, beyond the purview of our conscious thought. Although it sounds like a science fiction concept, the biological and embodied nature of rhetoric is in line with the beliefs of the ancient Sophists, who understood rhetoric to have the same kind of effect on the brain as a drug. This ancient understanding, that rhetoric can infiltrate the human body, is another in- stance where ancient knowledge aligns with modem scientific theory.' Neurorhetoric is the study of how rhetoric shapes the human brain. At the forefront of science and communication studies, neurorhetoric challeng- es many preconceptions about how humans respond to persuasive stimuli. Neurorhetoric can be applied to a multiplicity of relevant legal issues, in- cluding the topic of this Symposium Issue: race and advocacy. After detail- ing the neuroscientific and cognitive theories that underlie neurorhetoric, this Essay theorizes ways in which neurorhetoric intersects with the law, advocacy, and race. This Essay explores how toxic racial stereotypes and categories become embedded in the human brain and what can be done about it. This Essay, which examines the way that language creates thought pat- terns that can become collectively entrenched, is especially relevant in our extremely divisive political age. For instance, President Donald Trump's campaign drew upon negative stereotypes about minorities by crafting an us C 2017 Lucy Jewel. * Associate Professor of Law, University of Tennessee College of Law. 1. See Lucille A. Jewel, Old-School Rhetoric and New-School Cognitive Science: The En- during Power ofLogocentric Categories, 13 LEGAL COMM. & RHETORIC 39, 40-42 (2016) (posit- ing that ancient wisdom concerning effective argumentation is supported by modem scientific un- derstandings of human information processing). 663

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most