Supercritical Method
The supercritical method is a method of reasoning akin to sophistry , consisting of systematic critical details of a claim against it. It is important to distinguish the method of supercritical critical thinking , it is instead just the judicious use of reason.
Summary |
This method is generally an analysis of suspicious and dependent insignificant details or related to a subject, to repel an opponent's theory, even though the evidence brought by it are they not negligible.
The supercritical method is difficult to counter, since it launches a number of sweeping assertions (and quick to make), which require work to be verified.
Examples of use
An extreme case of this deformation of mind is probably that of Father Hardouin , this enterprising scholar who, in the seventeenth century , argued that the classics of antiquity had been invented by monks of the Middle Ages , since none had any manuscript prior to that time.
Nowadays, it is particularly used in all forms of denial. Indeed, it allows, for example with the consensus of historians, to propose the syllogism as follows:
- Such details are unclear or contradictory;
- So the whole explanation is false;
- So the evidence put forward are rebuttals.
Citation
"The criticism is hypercritical that cunning is the finesse. "
( Charles-Victor Langlois , Introduction to Historical Studies , 1898)
See also
External Links
- (En) On the supercritical method , Henri Marrou Irenaeus
- (En) "The Normandy invasion never took place! " (parody of the supercritical method deniers)
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