The Art of Being Right
Encyclopedia
The Art of Being Right: 38 Ways to Win an Argument (1831) (Eristische
Dialektik: Die Kunst, Recht zu Behalten) is an acidulous and sarcastic treatise written by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
in sarcastic deadpan. In it, Schopenhauer examines a total of thirty-eight methods of showing up one's opponent in a debate. He introduces his essay with the idea that philosophers have concentrated in ample measure on the rules of logic
, but have not (especially since the time of Immanuel Kant
) engaged with the darker art of the dialectic
, of controversy. Whereas the purpose of logic is classically said to be a method of arriving at the truth, dialectic, says Schopenhauer, "...on the other hand, would treat of the intercourse between two rational beings who, because they are rational, ought to think in common, but who, as soon as they cease to agree like two clocks keeping exactly the same time, create a disputation, or intellectual contest."
, Schopenhauer wrote:
He "collected all the dishonest tricks so frequently occurring in argument and clearly presented each of them in its characteristic setting, illustrated by examples and given a name of its own." As an additional service, Schopenhauer "added a means to be used against them, as a kind of guard against these thrusts…."
However, when he later revised his book, he found "that such a detailed and minute consideration of the crooked ways and tricks that are used by common human nature
to cover up its shortcomings is no longer suited to my temperament and so I lay it aside." He then recorded a few stratagems as specimens for anyone in the future who might care to write a similar essay. He also included, in Parerga and Paralipomena, Volume 2, § 26, an outline of what is essential to every disputation.
The Manuscript Remains left after Schopenhauer's death include a forty–six page section on "Eristic Dialectics". It contains thirty–eight stratagems and many footnotes. There is a preliminary discussion about the distinction between logic and dialectics. E. F. J. Payne has translated these notes into English.
A. C. Grayling
edited T. Bailey Saunders' English translation in 2004.
Eristic
Eristic, from the ancient Greek word Eris meaning wrangle or strife, often refers to a type of argument where the participants fight and quarrel without any reasonable goal....
Dialektik: Die Kunst, Recht zu Behalten) is an acidulous and sarcastic treatise written by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
in sarcastic deadpan. In it, Schopenhauer examines a total of thirty-eight methods of showing up one's opponent in a debate. He introduces his essay with the idea that philosophers have concentrated in ample measure on the rules of logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, but have not (especially since the time of Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
) engaged with the darker art of the dialectic
Dialectic
Dialectic is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to Indic and European philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues...
, of controversy. Whereas the purpose of logic is classically said to be a method of arriving at the truth, dialectic, says Schopenhauer, "...on the other hand, would treat of the intercourse between two rational beings who, because they are rational, ought to think in common, but who, as soon as they cease to agree like two clocks keeping exactly the same time, create a disputation, or intellectual contest."
Publication
In Volume 2, § 26, of his Parerga and ParalipomenaParerga and Paralipomena
Parerga and Paralipomena is a collection of philosophical reflections by Arthur Schopenhauer published in 1851...
, Schopenhauer wrote:
The tricks, dodges, and chicanery, to which they [men] resort in order to be right in the end, are so numerous and manifold and yet recur so regularly that some years ago I made them the subject of my own reflection and directed my attention to their purely formal element after I had perceived that, however varied the subjects of discussion and the persons taking part therein, the same identical tricks and dodges always come back and were very easy to recognize. This led me at the time to the idea of clearly separating the merely formal part of these tricks and dodges from the material and of displaying it, so to speak, as a neat anatomical specimen.
He "collected all the dishonest tricks so frequently occurring in argument and clearly presented each of them in its characteristic setting, illustrated by examples and given a name of its own." As an additional service, Schopenhauer "added a means to be used against them, as a kind of guard against these thrusts…."
However, when he later revised his book, he found "that such a detailed and minute consideration of the crooked ways and tricks that are used by common human nature
Human nature
Human nature refers to the distinguishing characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling and acting, that humans tend to have naturally....
to cover up its shortcomings is no longer suited to my temperament and so I lay it aside." He then recorded a few stratagems as specimens for anyone in the future who might care to write a similar essay. He also included, in Parerga and Paralipomena, Volume 2, § 26, an outline of what is essential to every disputation.
The Manuscript Remains left after Schopenhauer's death include a forty–six page section on "Eristic Dialectics". It contains thirty–eight stratagems and many footnotes. There is a preliminary discussion about the distinction between logic and dialectics. E. F. J. Payne has translated these notes into English.
A. C. Grayling
A. C. Grayling
Anthony Clifford Grayling is a British philosopher. In 2011 he founded and became the first Master of New College of the Humanities, a private undergraduate college in London. Until June 2011, he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, where he taught from 1991...
edited T. Bailey Saunders' English translation in 2004.
Synopsis
The following lists the 38 stratagems described by Schopenhauer, in the order of their appearance in the book:- The Extension
- The Homonymy
- Generalize Your Opponent's Specific Statements
- Conceal Your Game
- False Propositions
- Postulate What Has to Be Proved
- Yield Admissions Through Questions
- Make Your Opponent Angry
- Questions in Detouring Order
- Take Advantage of the Nay-Sayer
- Generalize Admissions of Specific Cases
- Choose Metaphors Favourable to Your Proposition
- Agree to Reject the Counter-Proposition
- Claim Victory Despite Defeat
- Use Seemingly Absurd Propositions
- Arguments Ad HominemAd hominemAn ad hominem , short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it...
- Defense Through Subtle Distinction
- Interrupt, Break, Divert the Dispute
- Generalize the Matter, Then Argue Against it
- Draw Conclusions Yourself
- Meet Him With a Counter-Argument as Bad as His
- Petitio principii
- Make Him Exaggerate His Statement
- State a False SyllogismSyllogismA syllogism is a kind of logical argument in which one proposition is inferred from two or more others of a certain form...
- Find One Instance to the Contrary
- Turn the Tables
- Anger Indicates a Weak Point
- Persuade the Audience, Not the Opponent
- Diversion
- Appeal to Authority Rather Than Reason
- This Is Beyond Me
- Put His Thesis into Some Odious Category
- It Applies in Theory, but Not in Practice
- Don't Let Him Off the Hook
- Will Is More Effective Than Insight
- Bewilder Your opponent by Mere Bombast
- A Faulty Proof Refutes His Whole Position
- Become Personal, Insulting, Rude
See also
- Informal logicInformal logicInformal logic, intuitively, refers to the principles of logic and logical thought outside of a formal setting. However, perhaps because of the informal in the title, the precise definition of informal logic is matters of some dispute. Ralph H. Johnson and J...
- Logical fallacies
- Philosophical logicPhilosophical logicPhilosophical logic is a term introduced by Bertrand Russell to represent his idea that the workings of natural language and thought can only be adequately represented by an artificial language; essentially it was his formalization program for the natural language...
- Reasoning
External links
- Online version from Coolhaus.de, translated by T. Bailey Saunders in 1896. It shows the English translation parallel to the German text.
- Illustrated version of The Art of Being Right and links to logic and sophisms used by the stratagems.
- Audio version of The Art of Being Right from LibriVoxLibriVoxLibriVox is an online digital library of free public domain audiobooks, read by volunteers and is probably, since 2007, the world's most prolific audiobook publisher...
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