Friday, May 1, 2009

"Just for argument's sake"

Just for the sake of argument, lets pretend that you could maybe be right. Because the only reason I would bother responding is if you could be right. But since I know you're wrong, I'm just pretending that you're right for the sake of argument.

I hope never again to say something "for the sake of argument."

How pretentious. How condescending. People are better than that. Odds are when I say "for the sake of argument" I really mean "You're an idiot, I'm going to use this opportunity to prove it." If I ever said "for the sake of argument" to you, I appologize.

I bet other people don't think that way. I bet when other people say that, they really mean "in order to have a more intellectual conversation, let's make certain assumptions that we wouldn't otherwise." I'm probably the only one who has problems with "for the sake of argument"

But just look at the phrase, for arguments sake. Arguments sake! Who argues for the sake of arguing? That's like taking a shower for the sake of getting wet! If I argue, I should have a goal, a reason, (which is why you shouldn't run definitions all the time kids.)

Just for the sake of argument. Especially when it doesn't matter. I could prove you wrong, but why would I want to, it's not doing you any harm to be wrong, I can get over my egotism, and maybe I'm even wrong. Do I really need to harm our friendship just to further my personal agenda? Because that's what argument for arguments sake really seems to me. It's making yourself right just to be right. Not because its right, but because you're right.

And so, you're still wrong, but I'm not going to tell you why just "for argument's sake." In fact, I'm not going to tell you at all, because "Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only that which is helpful for building others up." I shouldn't argue with you unless it is to build you up, not me.

1 comment:

  1. "I'm probably the only one who has problems with "for the sake of argument.""

    No, you're not. Why waste time arguing just to prove you're right? It takes all the fun away and is incredibly unfulfilling. At the end of the argument, the person realizes "Oh, I'm wrong, he's right" and nothing else. We should be more focused on helping the person see, "Oh, this is truth!"

    I get so annoyed when people in debate rounds bring up arguments they know are fluff or don't apply to my case, just to waste my time refuting them and see what I'll say. Having a piece of evidence for an argument doesn't mean that argument is worth being debated about or that the argument is true.

    Also, rather unrelated, I do shower for the sake of getting wet. Having no air conditioning does interesting things to a person.

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