If you admit that to silence your opponent by force_x000D_ is to win an intellectual argument,_x000D_ then you admit the right to silence people by force.
Interpretation
Using force to silence someone undermines the integrity of an intellectual argument.
Hans Eysenck highlights a critical aspect of discourse and debate, emphasizing that resorting to force to silence an opponent signifies a troubling acceptance of coercion in intellectual discussions. This stance implies that if one justifies winning arguments through force, it opens the door to a broader acceptance of silencing dissenting voices, compromising the ideals of free and open dialogue.
In practice
During a debate on free speech, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of dialogue over coercion.
I always felt that a scientist owes the world only one thing, and that is the truth as he sees it. If the truth contradicts deeply held beliefs, that is too bad. Tact and diplomacy are fine in international relations, in politics, perhaps even in business; in science only one thing matters, and that is the facts.
For this reason, strangers are not really conceived as individuals, but as strangers of a particular type: the element of distance is no less general in regard to them than the element of nearness.
It is no use painting the foot of the tree white, the strength of the bark cries out from beneath the paint.
In the Destroyer's steps there spring up bright creations that defy his power, and his dark path becomes a way of light to Heaven.
But O the exceeding grace_x000D_ Of highest God, that loves his creatures so,_x000D_ And all his works with mercy doth embrace,_x000D_ That blessed angels, he sends to and fro,_x000D_ To serve to wicked man, to serve his wicked foe.
The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good, in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.
Those who invest in South Africa should not think they are doing us a favor; they are here for what they get out of our cheap and abundant labor, and they should know that they are buttressing one of the most vicious systems.
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