"What do we mean by “winning”? If the objective is to achieve some quick result—to induce a particular action, or even simply rouse an immediate...
Winning an Argument vs. Truth
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Public Discourse
Media’s Legal Victories
"When the media win a court case, we all hear about the victory; when they lose, “the issue” (in the words of the New York Times upon one such...
Correcting Argument Mistakes
"While mistakes ought to be admitted as promptly and economically as possible, care ought to be taken to fill the resulting hole in the line of...
Political Conversation vs. Reality
"The talk of politicians when they let their hair down bears very little resemblance to dinner-table chatter in a well-run vicarage, and Mr. Nixon,...
The Gamble of Mass Democracy
"The untested assumption required us to suppose that such an electorate, or at least a majority of its members, would be capable of exercising the...
Liberal Media Watchdogs
"There is evidence that liberals … may themselves be preparing to enter the lists of those who monitor the media. According to [an item in the...
NYT Op-Ed Liberalism
"The Op-Ed page of the New York Times … is allegedly intended to afford space for the expression of a large variety of views on public questions,...
Role of Rhetorical Devices
"Rhetorical devices are nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, they are indispensable tools serving … to enhance and enrich the plodding words...
Arguments from Consequence vs. Analogy
"The argument from consequences … tends on the whole to be somewhat weaker than the argument from analogy … precisely because it lacks the...
Hidden Motives in Arguing
"People often have other reasons for arguing: unacknowledged or even unconscious reasons that have little or nothing to do with “prevailing” or...
Politicians’ Courteous Self-Interest
"Politicians are characteristically most polite to people whose support they hope some day to get, not to those whose support they already have."...
Low Standards in Politicians
"Politicians are the grease on which society's wheels turn. And they can't be better, most of the time, than a sort of low competence and honor."...