Stratagem 22
Original German
Fordert er daß wir etwas zugeben, daraus das in Streit stehende Problem unmittelbar folgen würde; so lehnen wir es ab, indem wir es für eine petitio principii ausgeben; denn er und die Zuhörer werden einen dem Problem nahe verwandten Satz leicht als mit dem Problem identisch ansehn: und so entziehn wir ihm sein bestes Argument.
Musean translation
Machine-assisted, directly from Deussen’s German edition (1923).
If he demands that we concede something from which the question at issue would follow immediately, refuse by presenting it as a begging of the question. He and the listeners will readily take a proposition closely related to the problem as identical with it; thus we deprive him of his best argument.
Plain English translation
Machine-assisted, independently translated directly from Deussen’s German edition (1923).
If the opponent asks us to accept something from which the disputed conclusion would immediately follow, refuse by calling it an assumption of what they are supposed to prove. The opponent and the listeners will easily mistake a closely related statement for the disputed claim itself. We thus take away their best argument.
About this section
Stratagem 22 is part of The Art of Being Right by Arthur Schopenhauer. This page sets the German original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 27 of 43 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
Open the work page for the full contents, every edition, and the download links, or go back to Explore to browse other complete works in the European tradition. The reader keeps your place when you are signed in and lets you compare the original with each translation, one edition at a time.