Hardly any other phenomenon has left such a mark on the cultural history of the West as the art of persuasion. From Plato's critique of the Sophists to present-day discourse ethics, the indissoluble ambivalence of persuasion has exerted its fascination in a field that extends from inducement to convincement. The present study takes a dialogue-analytic approach to the problem, with additional reference to aspects of the history of rhetoric, text linguistics, and language philosophy. Examples from actual texts illustrate the communication theory behind the approach.