38 Ways To Win An Argument

T
hir ty - E igh t Wa ys to W in an Argu men t
f r o m Schop enh au er's "T he A rt of C on tr ov ers y "
.
. .p er fa s et nefa s
: - )

( C ou rte sy o f s
e arc h lo re
~ Back to th e t
r o ll s
l o re ~ o
rig in al germ an te x t )

1

C arr y you r oppon en t's propo siti on b eyond its natu ra l limi ts ; ex agg era te it.
T he m ore gen era l you r oppon en t's sta te m en t bec o m es, th e m ore ob je cti on s you can find ag ain st it .
T he m ore re str ic te d and n arro w you r ow n p ropo siti on s re m ain, th e ea sie r th ey are to d efe nd.
2
U se diff ere n t m ean ing s of you r opp onen t's w ord s to re fu te his argu men t.
E xam ple : P ers on A sa y s, "Y ou do no t und ers ta n d th e m yste rie s of K an t's ph ilo sophy. "
P ers on B re p li es, "O f, if it 's m yste rie s you' re ta lk ing abou t, I'l l hav e no th ing to do with th em ."
3

I gno re you r oppon en t's propo siti on, whic h was in te nd ed to re fe r to so m e parti c u la r th ing.
R ath er, und ers ta nd it in so m e qu it e dif fe re n t se n se , and th en re fu te it.
A tta ck so m eth ing d iff ere n t t han what w as ass erte d.
4

H id e you r con clu sion from you r oppon en t un til t he end.
M ing le yo ur pre m is e s here and th ere in you r ta lk.
G et you r oppon en t to ag re e to th em i n no d efin it e ord er.
B y th is cir c u it ou s rou te you con cea l you r go al un til you h av e rea ch ed all t he ad m iss ion s nec ess ary to
r e a ch you r go al.
5

U se you r op pon en t's beli efs ag ain st him .
If you r op pon en t re fu se s to ac ce pt you r pre mi se s, u se his ow n p re mi se s to you r adv an ta g e.
E xam ple , if th e oppon en t is a m em ber of an o rg an iz a ti on o r a re li g iou s s ec t to whic h you do no t belong,
you may em ploy th e dec la re d op in ion s of th is group ag ain st t he oppon en t.
6
C on fu se th e iss ue by