Dr Jamie Dow, Lecturer, IDEA Centre presented at this seminar. Professional Expertise in persuasion or “rhetoric”, understood more-or-less as Aristotle described it, is arguably of great value. Nevertheless, it can seemingly be exercised not only beneficially, but also in ways that are objectionable and produce great harm. I consider here ways in which persuasive expertise allows, and perhaps positively recommends, practices that we would class as “pandering” objectionably to audience’s defects.