A philosophical or rhetorical technique where surface-level arguments or appeals are used to persuade people without deeper logical foundation.
From Greek 'epi' (upon) + 'polis' (city/people) + '-ism' (practice/doctrine). The term emerged in academic discourse to describe superficial persuasion tactics that work on populations.
This word captures how politicians and advertisers often win with catchy slogans rather than solid arguments—the ancient Greeks had already noticed and named this trick!
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