The Art of Being Right - Wikipedia

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The Art of Being Right

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The Art of Being Right: 38 Ways to Win an Argument

(also Eristic Dialectic: The Art of Winning an
Argument; German: Eristische Dialektik: Die Kunst,
Recht zu behalten; 1831) is an acidulous and sarcastic
treatise written by the German philosopher Arthur

The Art of Being Right: 38 Ways to Win

an Argument
Author

Arthur Schopenhauer

Original title Eristische Dialektik: Die Kunst,

Schopenhauer in sarcastic deadpan.[1] In it, Schopenhauer
Recht zu behalten
examines a total of thirty-eight methods of showing up
one's opponent in a debate. He introduces his essay with
the idea that philosophers have concentrated in ample measure on the rules of logic, but have not (especially
since the time of Immanuel Kant) engaged with the darker art of the dialectic, of controversy. Whereas the
purpose of logic is classically said to be a method of arriving at the truth, dialectic, says Schopenhauer, "...on
the other hand, would treat of the intercourse between two rational beings who, because they are rational,
ought to think in common, but who, as soon as they cease to agree like two clocks keeping exactly the same
time, create a disputation, or intellectual contest."

Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6

Publication
Synopsis
See also
Notes
References
External links

Veronese, Paolo, Arachne or

Dialectics, 1520

Publication
In Volume 2, 26, of his Parerga and Paralipomena, Schopenhauer wrote:
The tricks, dodges, and chicanery, to which they [men] resort in order to be right in the end, are
so numerous and manifold and yet recur so regularly that some years ago I made them the
subject of my own reflection and directed my attention to their purely formal element after I had
perceived that, however varied the subjects of discussion and the persons taking part therein, the
same identical tricks and dodges always come back and were very easy to recognize. This led
me at the time to the idea of clearly separating the merely formal part of these tricks and dodges
from the material and of displaying it, so to speak, as a neat anatomical specimen.
He "collected all the dishonest tricks so frequently occurring in argument and clearly presented each of them
in its characteristic setting, illustrated by examples and given a name of its own." As an additional service,
Schopenhauer "added a means to be used against them, as a kind of guard against these thrusts."
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However, when he later revised his book, he found "that such a detailed and minute consideration of the
crooked ways and tricks that are used by common human nature to cover up its shortcomings is no longer
suited to my temperament and so I lay it aside." He then recorded a few stratagems as specimens for anyone
in the future who might care to write a similar essay. He also included, in Parerga and Paralipomena,
Volume 2, 26, an outline of what is essential to every disputation.
The Manuscript Remains left after Schopenhauer's death include a fortysix page section on "Eristic
Dialectics". It contains thirtyeight stratagems and many footnotes. There is a preliminary discussion about
the distinction between logic and dialectics. E. F. J. Payne has translated these notes into English.[2]
A. C. Grayling edited T. Bailey Saunders' English translation in 2004.[3]

Synopsis
The following lists the 38 stratagems described by Schopenhauer, in
the order of their appearance in the book:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.

The Extension (Dana's Law)

The Homonymy
Generalize Your Opponent's Specific Statements
Conceal Your Game
False Propositions
Postulate What Has to Be Proved
Yield Admissions Through Questions
Make Your Opponent Angry
Questions in Detouring Order
Take Advantage of the Nay-Sayer
Generalize Admissions of Specific Cases
Choose Metaphors Favourable to Your Proposition
Agree to Reject the Counter-Proposition
Claim Victory Despite Defeat
Use Seemingly Absurd Propositions
Arguments Ad Hominem
Defense Through Subtle Distinction
Interrupt, Break, Divert the Dispute
Generalize the Matter, Then Argue Against it
Draw Conclusions Yourself
Meet Him With a Counter-Argument as Bad as His
Petitio principii
Make Him Exaggerate His Statement
State a False Syllogism
Find One Instance to the Contrary
Turn the Tables
Anger Indicates a Weak Point
Persuade the Audience, Not the Opponent
Diversion
Appeal to Authority Rather Than Reason
This Is Beyond Me
Put His Thesis into Some Odious Category

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Basis of all dialectic, according to

Schopenhauer

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33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.

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It Applies in Theory, but Not in Practice

Don't Let Him Off the Hook
Will Is More Effective Than Insight
Bewilder Your opponent by Mere Bombast
A Faulty Proof Refutes His Whole Position
Become Personal, Insulting, Rude (argumentum ad personam)

See also
Big Lie
Informal logic
Logical fallacies
Philosophical logic
Reasoning

Wikisource has original

text related to this article:
The Art of Being Right

Notes
1. `The Truth` by AC Grayling in The Art of Always Being Right: Thirty Eight Ways to Win When You Are Defeated,
(2004), Gibson Square Books, ISBN 1-903933-61-7
2. Arthur Schopenhauer, Manuscript Remains in Four Volumes, Edited by Arthur Hbscher, Translated by E.F.J. Payne,
Vol. III, "Berlin Manuscripts (1818-1830)," Berg, Oxford/New York/Munich, 1989, ISBN 0-85496-540-8
3. The Art of Always Being Right: Thirty Eight Ways to Win When You Are Defeated, (2004), Gibson Square Books,
ISBN 1-903933-61-7

References
Grayling, A. C. (2004) The Art of Always Being Right: Thirty Eight Ways to Win When You Are
Defeated ISBN 1-903933-61-7
Parerga und Paralipomena, 1851; English Translation by E. F. J. Payne, Clarendon Press, Oxford,
1974, Vol 2, ISBN 0-19-924221-6
Arthur Schopenhauer, Manuscript Remains, Volume III, English Translation by E. F. J. Payne, Berg
Publishers Ltd., ISBN 0-85496-540-8

External links
Online version (http://coolhaus.de/art-of-controversy/) from Coolhaus.de, translated by T. Bailey
Saunders in 1896. It shows the English translation parallel to the German text.
The Art of Being Right (https://librivox.org/search?title=The+Art+of+Being+Right&author=Schope
nhauer&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&so
rt_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced) public domain audiobook at
LibriVox
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Art_of_Being_Right&oldid=722901970"
Categories: Works by Arthur Schopenhauer

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