Navigating the Fog of Likelihood : The Eikotic Analysis Protocol as a Tool for Civic Diagnosis and Repair
Hietanen, Mika LU
(2026)
Nordiska retorikkonferensen
p.23-23
- Abstract
- The contemporary crisis of public discourse is routinely misdiagnosed as a post-truth disregard for facts. This presentation argues that the deeper pathology is a hyper-eikotic environment: a flood of weaponised plausibilities resulting from the historical schism between demonstrable evidence and persuasive reasoning. To navigate this environment, citizens and critics need more than factchecking; they require a method to analyse the structures of persuasive probability (ta eikota).
This presentation introduces the Eikotic Analysis Protocol (EAP), a seven-step critical method for mapping how plausibility is constructed, contested, and weaponised in public discourse. Grounded in the recovery of classical rhetorical probability and... (More) - The contemporary crisis of public discourse is routinely misdiagnosed as a post-truth disregard for facts. This presentation argues that the deeper pathology is a hyper-eikotic environment: a flood of weaponised plausibilities resulting from the historical schism between demonstrable evidence and persuasive reasoning. To navigate this environment, citizens and critics need more than factchecking; they require a method to analyse the structures of persuasive probability (ta eikota).
This presentation introduces the Eikotic Analysis Protocol (EAP), a seven-step critical method for mapping how plausibility is constructed, contested, and weaponised in public discourse. Grounded in the recovery of classical rhetorical probability and modern argumentation theory, the EAP guides users to identify core probabilistic warrants, audit their qualifiers, test their resilience, and construct counter-narratives. Its application will be demonstrated through a case study, revealing how rhetoric can forge self-sealing networks of belief that evade traditional evidentiary refutation.
By transforming the rhetorical critic into a doxic cartographer, the EAP provides a practical toolkit for civic literacy. It advances the project of reclaiming rhetoric as a vital civic epistemology – a necessary foundation for democratic societies to adjudicate competing claims and rebuild a shared capacity for public judgement (krisis) amidst profound uncertainty. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4fbf255b-56f2-4e10-8980-84fbaea286d5
- author
- Hietanen, Mika
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-06-09
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Rhetorical Criticism, Disinformation, Civic Epistemology, Rhetorical Probability, Public Sphere
- pages
- 1 pages
- conference name
- Nordiska retorikkonferensen
- conference location
- Oslo, Norway
- conference dates
- 2026-06-16 - 2026-06-19
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 4fbf255b-56f2-4e10-8980-84fbaea286d5
- alternative location
- https://www.hf.uio.no/iln/english/research/news-and-events/events/conferences/2026/nkrf10/nkrf10-book-of-abstracts.pdf
- date added to LUP
- 2026-05-19 23:20:13
- date last changed
- 2026-06-23 14:15:19
@misc{4fbf255b-56f2-4e10-8980-84fbaea286d5,
abstract = {{The contemporary crisis of public discourse is routinely misdiagnosed as a post-truth disregard for facts. This presentation argues that the deeper pathology is a hyper-eikotic environment: a flood of weaponised plausibilities resulting from the historical schism between demonstrable evidence and persuasive reasoning. To navigate this environment, citizens and critics need more than factchecking; they require a method to analyse the structures of persuasive probability (ta eikota).<br/><br/>This presentation introduces the Eikotic Analysis Protocol (EAP), a seven-step critical method for mapping how plausibility is constructed, contested, and weaponised in public discourse. Grounded in the recovery of classical rhetorical probability and modern argumentation theory, the EAP guides users to identify core probabilistic warrants, audit their qualifiers, test their resilience, and construct counter-narratives. Its application will be demonstrated through a case study, revealing how rhetoric can forge self-sealing networks of belief that evade traditional evidentiary refutation.<br/><br/>By transforming the rhetorical critic into a doxic cartographer, the EAP provides a practical toolkit for civic literacy. It advances the project of reclaiming rhetoric as a vital civic epistemology – a necessary foundation for democratic societies to adjudicate competing claims and rebuild a shared capacity for public judgement (krisis) amidst profound uncertainty.}},
author = {{Hietanen, Mika}},
keywords = {{Rhetorical Criticism; Disinformation; Civic Epistemology; Rhetorical Probability; Public Sphere}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{06}},
pages = {{23--23}},
title = {{Navigating the Fog of Likelihood : The Eikotic Analysis Protocol as a Tool for Civic Diagnosis and Repair}},
url = {{https://www.hf.uio.no/iln/english/research/news-and-events/events/conferences/2026/nkrf10/nkrf10-book-of-abstracts.pdf}},
year = {{2026}},
}