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'Beware who you give this book to.' Financial Times. --1
Humphrey Carpenter
‘The prize for ideas-ahead-of-their-time should probably go to Schopenhauer.’
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
82 of 87 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Schopenhauer's trademark pessimism always turned me off to his philosophical writings, but this book is a perfect expression of his cynicism, since it's a satire rather than an academic work of philosophy. It's written as a how-to manual with 38 easy rules for winning an argument as your hapless opponent clings to quaint standards of logic and rational debate. A compact book, it would fit nicely on the bookshelf between Machiavelli's "The Prince" and Voltaire's "Candide." The basic premise is that it's more important to win an argument than to reveal the truth, and that rhetorical tricks are more effective than sound reasoning in achieving this goal. He recommends such tactics as personal insults, changing the subject, and confusing your opponent, with a wry analysis of why each will give you the upper hand in a public debate. Despite being newly published in late 2004, it seems that every politician has already memorized its strategies - and sadly (but to Schopenhauer's credit as an author) they all seem to work in contemporary public discourse. If it weren't for Schopenhauer's sardonic tone this would be a very bleak and depressing book, but it's written with such fine irony that it's a very funny (albeit bitter) look at the shamelessly bad arguments we hear every day.
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is, basically, a short primer on rhetorics: how to come off best in arguments, irrespective of whether you are right or wrong. In fact, despite being close to 200 years old, it would quite happily fit into the "Idiot's Guide" series: it is concise, understandable, witty and of great practical use.
In some respects, this book reads a bit like "The Art of War". It is a catalogue of 38 rhetorical "dirty tricks", which include diversion, obfuscation, over-generalisation, mis-categorisation, false syllogism, personal attack etc., with short explanations (from a couple of sentences to 3-4 pages) and illustrative examples. It's all very easy to absorb, and you can easily finish the whole thing in a couple of hours.
There is some argument over whether this book was intended as an out-and-out satire. Undoubtedly, having a dig at the academic establishment was one of the things on Schopenhauer's mind, and much of the book is tongue-in-cheek. This does not make it any less useful. The underlying theme is dead serious: if you cannot recognise and counter-act sophistry and demagoguery, you will end up getting bamboozled into accepting and maybe even endorsing logically unsound arguments - at best losing face, at worst getting conned. This stuff should be taught in schools!
In some respects, this book reads a bit like "The Art of War". It is a catalogue of 38 rhetorical "dirty tricks", which include diversion, obfuscation, over-generalisation, mis-categorisation, false syllogism, personal attack etc., with short explanations (from a couple of sentences to 3-4 pages) and illustrative examples. It's all very easy to absorb, and you can easily finish the whole thing in a couple of hours.
There is some argument over whether this book was intended as an out-and-out satire. Undoubtedly, having a dig at the academic establishment was one of the things on Schopenhauer's mind, and much of the book is tongue-in-cheek. This does not make it any less useful. The underlying theme is dead serious: if you cannot recognise and counter-act sophistry and demagoguery, you will end up getting bamboozled into accepting and maybe even endorsing logically unsound arguments - at best losing face, at worst getting conned. This stuff should be taught in schools!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Don't waste your time or money!!!
This book is one of the worst I have ever read. It is poorly written and the content is equally bad. Read more
Published 21 months ago by R Munro
Utterly superb, crafty, sneaky and delicious
Those with the best arguments, don't always win... and the question is why not?
If you've ever told the truth, but been disbelieved, then you NEED to read this. Read more
If you've ever told the truth, but been disbelieved, then you NEED to read this. Read more
Published on 2 April 2010 by Satisfied at Last
Helping idiots expose themselves as real idiots is the most satisfying...
I managed to read this book in no less than 2 nights and have already seen remarkable results. I have allowed myself the indulgence of signing up to the odd premium dating sites in... Read more
Published on 6 July 2009 by S. Stern
What ever I thought it was, it wasn't.
I wasn't too sure what to expect from this book after the other reviews. I can take my wit at a steady pace - I read and enjoyed The Pickwick Papers for goodness sake. Read more
Published on 12 July 2005 by Fontwell
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