A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it.
On /r/TheMotte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed." He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel.
Why are you called "The Motte"?Ī motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy if in doubt, post!Ĭheck out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. However, many other topics are appropriate here. The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of TheMotte. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part. The Motte is a website for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. This was a discussion subreddit it is now archived, as well as a place to share occasional aggregated quality posts from the site.
0 kommentar(er)
