I've posted some scattered thoughts about "The Letter" here over the last day. I think my thoughts have settled now. Prepare for the One Correct Take...
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Misrepresent my argument? That's the straw man fallacy! (Foul. Penalty.) But they don't recognize the foul. "You're invalidating my truth." How do you respond to that? You can't. There's no page in the playbook to turn to.
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The rules of liberal debate exist because they promote cooperative, agonistic progress toward the truth. But the illiberal left isn't playing the cooperative agonistic progress game. They're playing Calvinball.
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For those of us who are interested in rational pursuit of truth, this is infuriating and intolerable. These rhetorical maneuvers are irrational and uncooperative, they don't take us closer to the truth. They're unfair. They don't play by the rules.
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"Don't play by the rules?" Ha! This is Calvinball. I'll see your "That's not a rational response to my argument" and raise you a "You're endangering vulnerable members of marginalized groups."
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Absurd! "I'm not endangering anyone. That's a strong claim! Can you offer any evidence for that?!" Evidence? Fool; this is Calvinball. "Check your privilege. That's just a dog whistle for white supremacy."
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I don't know the way forward. But the solution can't be to play Calvinball ourselves. It's not a rational enterprise. And they're better at it. We've got no choice but to keep playing our game and hope the referees take our side eventually.
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There are referees, of course. Who are they? HR departments and college administrators. ... Things are bleak.
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Addendum: There are versions of these pathologies on the right as well. I'm discussing the left version because it's in the news. The illiberal right plays rhetorical Calvinball too. They just use a different set of maneuvers. Oh, and they control the government!
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@threadreaderapp unroll please - Show replies
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