ABSTRACT
One influence tactic stands out for advocates of autonomy as a morally promising way of getting people to do things. Rational persuasion, which presents reasons for action to the targets of influence, appeals directly to the defining characteristic of moral agents. Perhaps because of reason’s pride of place in the history of liberalism, contemporary discussions of influence tend to see rational persuasion as the moral “gold standard” when it comes to the exercise of influence. Of course, philosophers who privilege rational persuasion might concede nonetheless that the behavior of the department chair and some of our friends and colleagues is wrong, even if it does not constitute manipulation. A final strategy for returning rational persuasion to its position of moral prominence maintains that leaders have a responsibility to make sure that followers are willing and able to choose the central route to persuasion.
