> If one’s aim is not so much discovering the truth as winning an argument at all costs, fallacy theory can provide a training in the dark arts of closing down a discussion prematurely, leaving the impression that it has been won.
If you aim is to discover "the truth", maybe you shoud stay out of debates altogether and not lecture others on what to say. If you train a bunch of kids to go into brain shutdown mode when they hear some latin keywords, why exactly shouldn't I exploit that? I will exploit that, because others will exploit it for sure. You can whine about it all you want, but if my strategy works I will win the debates and contol opinions, while you will fuss over correcness in complete irrelevance.
If you aim is to discover "the truth", maybe you shoud stay out of debates altogether and not lecture others on what to say. If you train a bunch of kids to go into brain shutdown mode when they hear some latin keywords, why exactly shouldn't I exploit that? I will exploit that, because others will exploit it for sure. You can whine about it all you want, but if my strategy works I will win the debates and contol opinions, while you will fuss over correcness in complete irrelevance.