The Art of The Argument: Western Civilization's Last Stand by Stefan Molyneux

Author:Stefan Molyneux [Molyneux, Stefan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2017-08-27T04:00:00+00:00

Complexity and Definitions

The more complicated the debate, the more necessary the definitions. There is a meta-definition necessary for all debates – hardly ever acknowledged – which is: what on earth is the point of a debate?

Almost a decade ago, I produced an 18-part Introduction to Philosophy series, wherein I defined the terms most necessary to philosophy – truth, reality, error, argument, fact, evidence – from the ground up.

The purpose of a debate is to compare The Argument to the truth. Either person may succeed, both persons may fail, but they cannot both succeed, since having a debate means taking opposing – or at least incompatible – positions. In any clash between two incompatible positions, only one can potentially emerge victorious. If we are lost, and you say “go south,” and I say “go north,” we can’t both be right.

The terms of the debate are far less important than the purpose of the debate. The purpose of the debate is to compare The Argument to the truth: the methodology requires definition, reason and evidence.

The question of whether or not God exists is the juxtaposition of the concept of God to the empiricism of the senses, since we must understand that ideas in the mind are not the same as things in the world. God certainly exists as an idea within the mind; God certainly exists as a belief system; churches and Bibles and priestly smocks all exist; and religion has particular consequences to those who believe in God. But none of these issues are central to the question of God’s objective existence outside the mind.

Concepts do not exist outside the mind, contra Plato. The abstract mathematical purities of a perfect circle, or 22÷7, or an infinitesimally small point, or E=MC2, do not exist in the tangible material realm, any more then you can drive across the idea of a bridge, or live in the concept of a house. In other words, a dictionary is not a mall.

The Argument is a conceptual explanation of things in the world. Where The Argument does not touch the world, it remains futile, abstract, merely self-referential (for me, the greatest condemnation of a theory!).

The debater does not fundamentally test his propositions against his opponent, but against reality. If you are arguing with a friend about the best way to get to Las Vegas, you are testing your propositions against empirical geographic reality, not against each other. If you win The Argument with your friend, but end up heading in exactly the wrong direction, have you really won The Argument? The immediate battle may be against your opponent, but the ultimate war is against unreality, anti-rationality, anti-empiricism. You can easily win the fight, but lose the war.

The purpose of The Argument is to get to Las Vegas, not to get your way. We wish to emerge victorious against error, not a mere opponent.

If your goal is to get to Las Vegas, losing The Argument if you are wrong gets you to Las Vegas.

If your goal is to

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