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Keywords 110718</div>
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A review of some terms useful in political analysis & polemics</div>
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<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 30.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">po·lem·ics</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""> (pə-lĕm′ĭks)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><i class="">n.</i>
<i class="">(used with a sing. or pl. verb)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">1.
</b>The art or practice of argumentation or controversy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">2.
</b>The practice of theological controversy to refute errors of doctrine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
All rights reserved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 30.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);" class="">polemics</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""> (pəˈlɛmɪks)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""><i class="">n</i></span><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">
</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class="">(<i class="">functioning as singular</i>) the art or practice of dispute or argument, as in attacking or defending a doctrine or belief</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 30.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">po•lem•ics</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""> (pəˈlɛm ɪks, poʊ-) </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><i class="">n.
</i>(<i class="">used with a sing. v.</i>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">1.
</b>the art or practice of disputation or controversy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">2.
</b>the branch of theology dealing with ecclesiastical disputation and controversy.</span><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">
</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">[1630–40]</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">A <b class="">
polemic</b> (</span><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">/pəˈlɛmɪk/</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">)
is contentious <a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Rhetoric" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">rhetoric</b></span></a> that is intended to support a specific position by aggressive claims and undermining of the opposing position. Polemics are mostly seen in arguments about controversial
topics. The practice of such argumentation is called <i class="">polemics</i>. A person who ofte writes polemics, or who speaks polemically, is called a
<i class="">polemicist</i>.<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polemy#cite_note-auto-1" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17.8px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><sup class="">[1]</sup></b></span></a>
The word is derived from <a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Greek+language" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">Greek</b></span></a> πολεμικός
<i class="">(polemikos)</i>, meaning 'warlike, hostile',<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polemy#cite_note-auto-1" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17.8px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><sup class="">[1]</sup></b></span></a><a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polemy#cite_note-2" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17.8px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><sup class="">[2]</sup></b></span></a>
from πόλεμος <i class="">(polemos)</i>, meaning 'war'.<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polemy#cite_note-3" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17.8px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><sup class="">[3]</sup></b></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">Polemics often concern issues in
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Religion" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">religion</b></span></a> or
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Politics" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">politics</b></span></a>. A polemic style of writing was common in
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Ancient+Greece" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">Ancient Greece</b></span></a>, as in the writings of the historian
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polybius" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">Polybius</b></span></a>. Polemic again became common in
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Medieval" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">medieval</b></span></a> and early modern times. Since then, famous polemicists have included the satirist
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Jonathan+Swift" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">Jonathan Swift</b></span></a>, the socialist philosophers
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Karl+Marx" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">Karl Marx</b></span></a> and
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Friedrich+Engels" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">Friedrich Engels</b></span></a>, the novelist
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/George+Orwell" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">George Orwell</b></span></a> and the linguist
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Noam+Chomsky" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none; color: #2484c6" class=""><b class="">Noam Chomsky</b></span></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">Overview</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Polemics are usually addressed to important issues in
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Religion" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class="">religion</b></span></a> and
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Politics" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class="">politics</b></span></a>. Polemic journalism was common
in <a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Continental+Europe" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class="">continental Europe</b></span></a> at a time when
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Libel" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class="">libel</b></span></a> laws were not as stringent as they are
now.<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polemy#cite_note-4" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.8px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><sup class="">[4]</sup></b></span></a>
To support the study of the controversies of the 17th–19th centuries, a British research project has placed online thousands of polemical pamphlets from that era.<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polemy#cite_note-5" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.8px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><sup class="">[5]</sup></b></span></a>
Discussions around <a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Atheism" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class="">atheism</b></span></a>,
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Humanism" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class="">humanism</b></span></a> and Christianity have remained
capable of polemic into modern times; for example, in 2007 Brian McClinton argued in
<i class="">Humani</i> that anti-religious books like <a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Richard+Dawkins" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class="">Richard Dawkins</b></span></a>'s
<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/The+God+Delusion" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><i class="">The God Delusion</i></b></span></a>
are part of the polemic tradition.<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polemy#cite_note-McClinton-6" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.8px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><sup class="">[6]</sup></b></span></a>
The humanist philosopher <a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/A.+C.+Grayling" class="">
<span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class="">A. C. Grayling</b></span></a> indeed published a book titled
<i class="">Against All Gods: Six Polemics on Religion and an Essay on Kindness</i> in 2008.<a href="https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Polemy#cite_note-7" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18.8px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(36, 132, 198);" class=""><b class=""><sup class="">[7]</sup></b></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">soph·is·try</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""> (sŏf′ĭ-strē)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><i class="">n.</i>
<i class="">pl.</i> <b class="">soph·is·tries</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">1.
</b>Plausible but fallacious argumentation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">2.
</b>A plausible but misleading or fallacious argument.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
All rights reserved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 28.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(248, 248, 248);" class="">sophistry</span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""> (ˈsɒfɪstrɪ)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""><i class="">n</i>,
<i class="">pl</i> <b class="">-ries</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""><b class="">1.
</b>(Philosophy)</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""><b class="">a.
</b>a method of argument that is seemingly plausible though actually invalid and misleading</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(64, 64, 64);" class="">
<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""><b class="">b.
</b>the art of using such arguments</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""><b class="">2.
</b>subtle but unsound or fallacious reasoning</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #f8f8f8" class=""><b class="">3.
</b>an instance of this; sophism</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 29.4px; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span></span><span style="font-kerning: none" class="">— from the online Free Dictionary
by Farlex (q.v.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">Exercise: Distinguish clearly between fallacies & sophisms. </span></div>
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