Hmmmm. Principle of charity is absolutely right & proper if one's aim is to get at the truth of things. But not convinced it should govern all our political interventions (online or otherwise). One concedes the terrain of rhetoric to one's opponents at peril, I reckon.
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Well, politics is a battle. People die as a result of political decisions. Groups of people lose their rights. Winning is important. I wouldn't hesitate to misrepresent the arguments of the pro-death penalty side if I thought it'd further the case of abolition.
Well, I agree with all that, of course. But gender critical feminists are battling against people who are absolutely unscrupulous in terms of their use of denigrating political rhetoric. It would be unwise of them to refrain at all times from replying in kind.
