of the eristic
to kill truth, bring the absurd.
to find truth, watch the absurd.
Plato thought that debates were stupid and dangerous.
Given that Plato is considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time, it might sound odd that he was so scathing of debates. But according to Plato, debates are never about philosophy or truth. They are about ego, pride, and winning at any cost.
In his dialogues including Gorgias,
Phaedrus,
and Meno,
Plato critiques
the sophists,
who would teach members of the public how to win arguments through persuasion.
They taught tactics to speak well, to sway an audience,
to make an opponent look foolish.
This, Plato hated. It reduced philosophy to mere performance,
to a competition of wits in a game the Greeks called
eristic.
The Eristic debater would appeal to the audience,
mock their opponents, and resort to any fallacious arguments to win,
often for fun.
Plato thought debates more than harmless fun,
as the audience often mistakes a winning performance with truth.
For Plato, debate was a much longer, collaborative, and dialectic process.
We're in a period of heightened eristic.
People, say what they may
to win arguments or make a point.
Plato captured the folly of the modern legal, political, and social
animus that bends truth and justice for rhetoric and showmanship.
Do you want to play questions?
It can be tempting to mistake such showmanship for truth.
And therefore we ought not to listen to this sophistical argument: for it will make us idle; and is sweet only to the sluggard1