Stratagem 1

Extension. Carry the opponent's assertion beyond its natural boundary: interpret it as generally as possible, take it in the widest possible sense, and exaggerate it. Your own assertion, by contrast, should be drawn back into the most restricted sense and the narrowest possible limits. The more general an assertion becomes, the more attacks it is exposed to. The remedy is a precise statement of the point or state of the controversy.

Example 1. I said: “The English are the leading nation in drama.” The opponent wished to attempt a counterinstance and replied: “It is well known that they can achieve nothing in music, and therefore in opera.” I drove him back by reminding him that “music is not included under drama: this means only tragedy and comedy.” He knew this perfectly well and was merely trying to generalize my assertion so that it embraced all theatrical performances, and thus opera, and thus music, in order then to defeat me with certainty.

Conversely, one may rescue one's own assertion by narrowing it beyond its original intention, if the wording admits it.

Example 2. A says: “The peace of 1814 restored independence even to all the German Hanseatic cities.” B gives the counterinstance that Danzig lost, through that peace, the independence Bonaparte had granted it. A saves himself as follows: “I said all the German Hanseatic cities: Danzig was a Polish Hanseatic city.”

Aristotle already teaches this stratagem. Topica Lib. VIII, c.12,11.

Example 3. Lamarck, Philosophie zoologique Vol. 1, p 203, denies polyps all sensation because they have no nerves. Yet they certainly perceive: they follow the light, moving deftly from branch to branch, and seize their prey. It has therefore been assumed that their nervous substance is evenly distributed throughout the mass of the body, as though fused into it, for they plainly have perceptions without separate sense organs. Since this overturns Lamarck's assumption, he argues dialectically as follows: “Then every part of a polyp's body would have to be capable of every kind of sensation, and also of movement, will and thought. The polyp would then possess in every point of its body all the organs of the most perfect animal. Every point could see, smell, taste, hear, and so forth—indeed, think, judge and infer. Every particle of its body would be a perfect animal, and the polyp itself would stand above the human being, since every little part of it would possess all the faculties that the human being possesses only as a whole. There would moreover be no reason not to extend what is asserted of the polyp to the monad, the most imperfect of all beings, and ultimately to plants as well, since they too live, and so forth.” Through such dialectical stratagems a writer betrays his inward awareness that he is wrong. Because it was said that “their whole body has sensation for light, and is therefore nerve-like,” he turns this into the claim that the whole body thinks.

Extension. Push the opponent's statement past its natural limits. Give it the broadest meaning you can and exaggerate it. Keep your own statement within the narrowest possible meaning and limits. The broader a statement is, the more ways there are to attack it. The defense is to state exactly what point or issue is being disputed.

Example 1. I said, “The English are the best nation at drama.” The opponent tried to give a counterexample. He replied that everyone knew they could achieve nothing in music, and therefore in opera. I stopped him by pointing out that music was not included in drama: that meant only tragedy and comedy. He knew that perfectly well. He was trying to widen my claim to include all theatrical performances, then opera, then music, so he could be sure of defeating me.

You can also save your own claim by narrowing it beyond what you originally intended, if the words you used allow this.

Example 2. A says, “The peace of 1814 even gave all the German Hanseatic cities their independence back.” B gives Danzig as a counterexample: it lost the independence Bonaparte had granted it through that peace. A saves the claim by saying, “I said all the German Hanseatic cities. Danzig was a Polish Hanseatic city.”

Aristotle already teaches this trick. Topica Lib. VIII, c.12,11.

Example 3. Lamarck, Philosophie zoologique Vol. 1, p 203, denies that polyps have any sensation because they have no nerves. But they certainly perceive. They follow the light, moving skillfully from branch to branch, and they catch their prey. People have therefore assumed that their nervous matter is spread evenly throughout the whole body, almost dissolved into it. They clearly perceive things without separate sense organs. This overturns Lamarck's assumption, so he argues this way: “Then every part of a polyp's body would have to be able to have every kind of sensation, and also movement, will and thought. Every point of its body would then have all the organs of the most highly developed animal. Each point could see, smell, taste, hear, and so on, and even think, judge and draw conclusions. Each particle of its body would be a complete animal. The polyp itself would be above a human being, since every small part of it would have all the abilities that a human has only as a whole. There would also be no reason not to extend the claim from polyps to the monad, the least developed of all beings, and finally to plants too, since they also live, and so on.” A writer who uses debating tricks like these shows that they secretly know they are wrong. The statement was that the whole body senses light and is therefore like nervous tissue. He turns that into a claim that the whole body thinks.