By all means, correct me if I'm wrong Kilmoll, but I think what Kilmoll meant was that this method of argumentation, while valued in certain settings, is not always welcome in others. Making logical arguments, backing them with evidence and presenting them in a clear, well thought out post, is often seen as pretentious snobbery. This is the very attitude satirized by Stephen Colbert when he quips, "I don't need facts to know I'm right, I feel it in my gut." More to the point, when someone argues like you do, it can come off sounding much like fluffed-up sophistry to the lay ear.Sueven wrote:The idea that you would physically attack me if we were having a conversation centered around some political disagreement and I tried to use logical argument is lunacy. I understand that you're using hyperbole here, but I'm honestly stunned that you typed that.
Kinda funny, I never thought that VV would make me reminisce about my philosophy classes so...gratz fags. Anyway, here's the skinny: Aristotelian rhetoric principles define three methods of argumentation: ethos, pathos, and logos. Respectively, they mean proving a point by invoking: a higher authority, emotional appeal, and logic. Granted, this is outdated taxonomy, but it applies.
The question of which mode of argumentation should be used in political discourse generally, or on this board specifically, is at the heart of his comments, and really this entire thread. Just about everyone has either been accused of or has admitted to using pathos, or emotional appeal, to win the argument. In this case of course, the emotional appeal is berating the arguer, pleasing the peanut gallery, and trolling. In fact, this very thread is based on an accusation that Funkmasterr and Midnyte use pathos too often and logos too rarely (an accusation which, as Xyun pointed out, can be made about both sides).
I personally prefer discussion based on substantiated, tenable arguments. I don't mind opinions at all, so long as those opinions are backed by sound reasoning, and not a regurgitation whatever some extremist pundit said on his/her radio show this afternoon. Actually even this would be fine if their arguments weren't so fucking riddled with flaws themselves.
But I think cutting all emotional appeal (read: attacks!) from the CE forum would be a disservice to the community at large. Frankly, I read posts here for a bunch of reasons, but chief among them is to witness the flying shitfest. Why anyone would leave such a spectacle is beyond me.