Thursday
Aug142008
Call and Response
Thursday 14 August, 2008
Following on from Alex Davies's post regarding the pre-emptive argument, I thought I would reply. Davies states:
'With the rise of eminently replicable text surfaces, I propose the following: the counter-argument should be posted first, with the original argument hidden from view until the counter-argument is formulated.'
This is all well and good, but how can the counter-argument be mounted when its original source is hidden from all but the author? Unless the author was to presuppose a counter-argument before launching his own, already-in-his-head-invalid polemic, like playing chess against oneself.
'With the rise of eminently replicable text surfaces, I propose the following: the counter-argument should be posted first, with the original argument hidden from view until the counter-argument is formulated.'
This is all well and good, but how can the counter-argument be mounted when its original source is hidden from all but the author? Unless the author was to presuppose a counter-argument before launching his own, already-in-his-head-invalid polemic, like playing chess against oneself.
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