The Left-Handed Fair Treatment Fallacy

Unarmed Men Should Arm Themselves

The air in Sophia's study felt timeless, filled with the scent of aged parchment and a faint, electric hum of knowledge. She looked upon her guest, Christine, with eyes that held the history of millennia.

"Welcome, my dear Christine," Sophia began, her voice a soothing murmur. "I've been contemplating your thoughts on defense—on the danger of speaking into a void where only one voice is prepared for a fight."

Those who plead their cause in the absence of an opponent can invent to their heart's content, can pontificate without taking into account the opposite point of view, and keep the best arguments for themselves, for aggressors are always quick to attack those who have no means of defence.
— Christine de Pizan (1364-1440)

Christine nodded, adjusting the velvet drape of her sleeve. "It is a cruel imbalance, Sophia. When one side is fully equipped with wit and rhetoric, and the other is absent or silent, the former can weave any tale they wish. They can declare themselves victor simply because there was no one to challenge their claims."

"Indeed," Sophia mused, tracing a pattern on the desk. "The unassailable argument often thrives not on its inherent truth, but on the sheer lack of opposition. An opponent's absence is an aggressor's finest weapon."

"Exactly! And the nature of the aggressor is to strike at the moment of least resistance," Christine emphasized. "A person without the tools to defend their position, a truth with no champion to speak it, is ripe for assault. They are, in a sense, unarmed in the court of ideas."

Sophia smiled, a profound understanding in her eyes. "So, when you speak of arming oneself, you aren't merely talking of steel and shield, but of preparation, presence, and a well-formed counter-argument. The true defense is to be present, to possess the intellectual and moral strength to meet the challenge."

"That is the whole of it," Christine affirmed. "To leave a cause undefended is to surrender to the invention of one's opponent. To arm oneself is to ensure that the debate is fair, that all perspectives are counted, and that truth is not decided by the loudest, most aggressive voice, but by the weight of genuine reason."

What do you think is the most effective 'weapon' one can wield in a modern debate?

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The Left-Handed Fair Treatment Fallacy