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Chapter 12. Engaging conspiracy theories

Reducing the anti-persuasive effects of persuasion
  • Tom Werner
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Persuasion in Specialized Discourse
This chapter is in the book Persuasion in Specialized Discourse

Abstract

To encounter a conspiracy theory is to enter a dark world where normal rules do not apply. To reason with an upholder of that theory is to come against a force-field which intensifies at every push, rendering ordinary persuasive strategies counter-productive. In place of such strategies, I appeal to the underlying linguistic structure of moves in a language game as providing a way out from the closed system of a conspiracy theory. This approach constitutes an application of what may be called practical linguistics.

Abstract

To encounter a conspiracy theory is to enter a dark world where normal rules do not apply. To reason with an upholder of that theory is to come against a force-field which intensifies at every push, rendering ordinary persuasive strategies counter-productive. In place of such strategies, I appeal to the underlying linguistic structure of moves in a language game as providing a way out from the closed system of a conspiracy theory. This approach constitutes an application of what may be called practical linguistics.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of figures vii
  4. List of tables ix
  5. Introduction. Genres and persuasion 1
  6. Chapter 1. Plural conversations about argumentation 24
  7. Chapter 2. Establishing starting points in Editorials 46
  8. Chapter 3. Arguments and framing strategies in Italian public discourse about measures to contrast the Covid-19 pandemic 71
  9. Chapter 4. Press releases of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers 92
  10. Chapter 5. Legitimation in contested industries 111
  11. Chapter 6. Argumentative style in international adoption dossiers 134
  12. Chapter 7. Persuasion and critical-theoretical thought 153
  13. Chapter 8. Argumentation and the “interaction of minds” in text 169
  14. Chapter 9. Argumentation in scientific discourse 189
  15. Chapter 10. Teaching to manage implicit linguistic meanings 211
  16. Chapter 11. Bentham on rhetoric 232
  17. Chapter 12. Engaging conspiracy theories 248
  18. Index 265
https://doi.org/10.1075/aic.22.12wer

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of figures vii
  4. List of tables ix
  5. Introduction. Genres and persuasion 1
  6. Chapter 1. Plural conversations about argumentation 24
  7. Chapter 2. Establishing starting points in Editorials 46
  8. Chapter 3. Arguments and framing strategies in Italian public discourse about measures to contrast the Covid-19 pandemic 71
  9. Chapter 4. Press releases of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers 92
  10. Chapter 5. Legitimation in contested industries 111
  11. Chapter 6. Argumentative style in international adoption dossiers 134
  12. Chapter 7. Persuasion and critical-theoretical thought 153
  13. Chapter 8. Argumentation and the “interaction of minds” in text 169
  14. Chapter 9. Argumentation in scientific discourse 189
  15. Chapter 10. Teaching to manage implicit linguistic meanings 211
  16. Chapter 11. Bentham on rhetoric 232
  17. Chapter 12. Engaging conspiracy theories 248
  18. Index 265
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