The article contrasts a philosopher’s hunt for a clean definition of 'propaganda' with a sociological view that studies what propaganda does in mass democracies. It argues the latter—via Lippmann’s stereotypes, Bernays’ 'engineering consent,' and Ellul’s ambivalence—better explains modern opinion‑shaping systems.
— Centering function clarifies today’s misinformation battles by focusing on how communication infrastructures steer behavior, not just on whether messages meet a dictionary test.
David Head
2026.04.17
71% relevant
The book review emphasizes how presidential speech acts (radio addresses, Oval Office messaging) functionally operate as propaganda—creating causal stories and identifying enemies—which aligns with the existing idea that what matters is how propaganda functions in political life rather than narrow definitions.
Lorenzo Warby
2026.04.16
85% relevant
The article operationalizes how propaganda-like commentary functions in practice (e.g., refusing to concede any positive about Trump or ignoring the Islamic Republic's record). That aligns with the idea that propaganda is best spotted by its effects and routines rather than abstract definitions—here the routines are partisan talking points substituted for analysis.
Mary Beard
2026.04.14
85% relevant
Beard's account treats the Roman triumph not as incidental ritual but as a designed communicative tool that performed specific political work (legitimizing commanders, rehearsing conquest, staging enemies). That maps directly to the existing idea that propaganda should be understood by what it does — its functions — rather than narrow definitions; Beard provides concrete historical mechanics (parade, spoils, captive display) illustrating that functional frame.
Scotty Hendricks
2026.04.13
80% relevant
The article explicitly reframes four well‑known classics as works produced to advance political or ideological aims, which matches the existing idea that 'propaganda' is best understood by its social function (what a text does) rather than narrow definitions; it connects a set of literary examples to the broader claim that cultural artifacts serve integrative or mobilizing purposes.
Richard Aldous
2026.04.05
57% relevant
Discussion of how communism 'conquered' large populations necessarily implicates techniques of persuasion, organizational messaging and information control — concrete mechanisms that map onto the existing idea that propaganda should be analyzed by its function, not mere labels.
Scott Alexander
2026.03.27
62% relevant
Showing that near‑identical 'sun miracles' occur across different traditions suggests such events can be instrumentalized to confer legitimacy; the Dhammakaya 1998 reports (and their amplification) fit the pattern of symbolic acts used for persuasion rather than purely private spiritual experiences.
PW Daily
2026.03.20
85% relevant
The article reports the White House pairing missile‑strike footage with sports/anime/pop‑culture clips to reach young people (Politico cited), which is a concrete example of propaganda functioning by shaping perceptions rather than fitting a narrow definition; this directly maps to the idea that modern propaganda operates through cultural integration and platformed content.
κρῠπτός
2026.03.18
85% relevant
The sermon explicitly argues that the point of propaganda is not primarily to tell falsehoods but to integrate people into modern life and reinforce norms like privacy and consumerist progress — a restatement and concrete religious‑speech example of the existing idea that propaganda is defined by its social function rather than factual content.
Kristen French
2026.01.08
68% relevant
The article identifies a low‑level, functional route—facial mimicry—by which communicators can steer preferences before reflective reasoning; that maps onto the 'propaganda-as-function' idea which studies how communication systems steer behaviour regardless of propositional truth, suggesting a concrete psychological substrate exploiters could use to amplify persuasive messaging.
Rory O’Sullivan
2026.01.08
84% relevant
O’Sullivan’s piece shows how philosophical discourse (phenomenology, Marxism, existentialism) is mobilised within colonial and post‑colonial politics — exactly the sort of functional analysis of persuasion and institutional messaging this idea urges: Thảo’s life illustrates how intellectual arguments become operational propaganda or counter‑propaganda in anti‑colonial struggles.
Rob Henderson
2026.01.05
60% relevant
The authors highlight the hivemind’s strategic use of love, faith and belonging as instruments of influence — a functional description of propaganda (what it does) rather than a lexical quarrel — matching the idea that we should study influence by its functional effects on mass populations.
Chris Bray
2025.12.30
70% relevant
Bray’s argument about journalism acting as a mouthpiece for officials maps onto the functional view of propaganda: media processes (asking officials, repeating them) are doing the work of defining reality rather than adjudicating it, which is a propaganda‑as‑function claim.
Chris Bray
2025.12.29
68% relevant
The article focuses less on truth/falsity and more on the social function of attacks, counterattacks, and narrative choreography (e.g., attack the messenger, law of merited impossibility), aligning with the idea that we should study what communicative campaigns do in public life rather than only whether they meet a tidy definition.
el gato malo
2025.12.29
60% relevant
The post treats 'prebunking' as a functional propaganda tactic (instrumental information‑shaping) rather than a definitional debate, aligning with the idea that we should study what information institutions do (their function) rather than fight about labels alone.
el gato malo
2025.11.30
92% relevant
This essay reframes contemporary influence as a functional system—operations that shape behavior and perceptions rather than discrete 'falsehoods'—which mirrors the existing idea’s call to study what propaganda does (tools, effects, infrastructure) rather than look for a neat definition.
Isegoria
2025.11.29
62% relevant
The article documents rumors functioning as social explanations and meaning‑making around a secret state project; this matches the existing idea's emphasis on studying what communicative phenomena do (their social function) rather than debating narrow definitions of 'propaganda.' The Los Alamos anecdotes show rumor performing the sociopolitical role that the 'propaganda as function' idea highlights.
2025.10.07
100% relevant
McKenna’s synthesis of Lippmann, Bernays, and Ellul and his claim that definitions often smuggle in sociological assumptions.
2025.09.04
60% relevant
Moral suasion is persuasion by appeal to norms and morals; this maps onto the existing idea that propaganda is usefully defined by function (persuasion/coordination) rather than form — the article's examples (temperance, civil rights, state exhortation) concretize that functional overlap.