The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; the Art of Controversy

Schopenhauer was never interested in making friends, and this vicious little treatise proves it. Here the great pessimist turns his gimlet eye on one of humanity's most cherished delusions: that we argue to find truth. We don't. We argue to win. <br><br>In these sharp, practical essays, Schopenhauer dissects the art of controversy with the precision of a surgeon and the warmth of a coroner. He distinguishes dialectic from logic, then systematically dismantles every dirty trick in the debator's arsenal: how to evade awkward questions, how to exploit your opponent's vanity, how to cling to a position long after reason has abandoned it. The psychological portrait he paints is unflattering but undeniable. We are vanity-driven creatures who confuse our reputation with our intellect, who would rather be right than be rational. <br><br>Two centuries later, nothing has changed. This is the book for anyone who wants to understand why political discourse has become what it is, or who simply wants to stop being the fool in someone else's argument.