From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Mon May 23 2005 - 02:46:25 BST
On 22 May 2005 at 9:36, TFP wrote:
Nothing I've read in the MD has ever been more hilarious than MSH's 4-page
polemic purporting to prove that unless you read and/or agree with Noam
Chomsky you cannot possible be considered a genuine philosopher.
msh:
One of the many tactics employed by TFP is to deliberately
misunderstand or misstate a point of contention in order to ridicule
it. Often, as here, the point to be ridiculed is a complete
fabrication. This tactic is sometimes referred to as the Platteral
Shift, in honor of its inventor.
The point made in my previous post, with ample evidence, is that a
faux philosopher denigrates or ridicules someone else' contributions
to philosophy, and then, when questioned, refuses to provide evidence
and argument in support of his libelous opinions.
Another variation of the Shift is to repeatedly ridicule the ideas of
another and then, when asked for evidence, say "This is a forum
dedicated to the work of Robert Pirsig. What does this have to do
with Pirsig?" For example:
"Howard Zinn is a Marxist and I don't believe anything he says."
"What evidence do you have that Zinn is a Marxist?"
"This forum is about Robert Pirsig, not Howard Zinn."
OR
"I don't believe any reports issued by anti-American organizations
like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch."
"What makes you think they are anti-American?
"What does this have to do with the Metaphysics of Quality?"
And round and round he rides the Carousel...
Best to all,
Mark Steven Heyman (msh)
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