Critical Analysis of Peter Knight's Arguement on Secret Societies

Peter Knight is a senior lecturer in literature for the University of Manchester. Before his employment at Manchester he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Nottingham University, as well as a Fulbright visiting fellow at the New York University, a study abroad fellow at Harvard. Dr. Knight has authored two books; “The Kennedy Assassination” and “Conspiracy Conspiracy Culture – American Paranoia from the Kennedy Assassination”. He has also edited, contributed to multiple books and journal articles. In his article “Trained as Traitors, Liars and Slavemasters!” that he authored for the “Freedom Networker he presents an argument that member of secret societies are all part of a plan to create a “New World Order”. Knight authored this article for the “Freedom Networker” which is a right winged, conspiracy minded, militia publication. (Knight). Because of the historical nature of this subject Knight was not able to effectively implement the Toulmins Model of Argumentation. The Toulmins Model asserts that most arguments contain six parts: 1.) Claims, 2.) Data/Grounds, 3.) Warrants, 4.) Backing, 5.) Qualifiers, and 6.) Rebuttals. (The Toulmin Model of Argumentation.).

Knight argues that there are over one million among us that he claims are trained to be traitors against freedom itself. He proceeds to tell his audience of his claims that these elite members of these secret societies are all intertwined and are working towards a common goal of a “New World Order”. Knight lists societies such as “Skull and Bones”, “The Knight Templars”, “Knights of Malta” ,”Order of the Eastern Star”, and “ the Council of Foreign Relations” but in the end chooses to only concentrate on the “Freemasons” and their roles in “The New World Order”. (Knight).

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...te fashion, as if the author believed that the words that he penned did not need any qualification. Knight believes that these secret society members are in all areas of the government and foundation of society and how the article is written makes it interpreted by its readers as an unqualified assentation that assumes that there will not be any argument given about the allegation that is being made.

In conclusion this article came off as a matter a fact argument that the author did not expect to receive any rebuttals on from his readers. It was written for a right winged, conspiracy minded, militia publication where the author assumed the readers would be like minded and would agree with his argument that all secret societies are out to set up a “New World Order” where the little man will be made slaves to the government and to those who have power and wealth.