The art of trolling: a philosophical history of rhetoric

[Anonymous]

The Art of Trolling: A Philosophical History of Rhetoric
On Socrates as troll and much more. Very interesting article.

"Socrates sets a series of verbal and logical traps to make his opposition incapable of responding in a reasonable fashion."

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[Anonymous]

Interesting.

We can, after all, troll a troll ourselves. We can use trolling to suppress an idea. But we can also use trolling to suppress oppressive entities or find ways of using trolling as a way to construct new ideas and knowledge. The troll is a genre, a model for writing or oratory that utilizes rhetoric in a deceitful way to achieve self-related goals. Just as writing may be used to affirm a variety of ethical and unethical positions, troll rhetoric too may occupy any position amongst a moral spectrum. The internet troll just happens to demonstrate another space where this rhetoric may be applied.