Question

eristic \ih-RISS-tik\

Accepted Answer

adjectiveCharacterized by disputatious and often subtle and specious reasoning.noun1. One who engages in arguments or disputes; a controversialist.2. The art of disputation.["Eristic" means "argumentative" as well as logically invalid, and someone prone to eristic arguments probably causes a fair amount of strife amongst his or her conversational partners. It's no surprise, then, that the word traces its ancestry back to the Greek word for "strife." "Eristic" and the variant "eristical" come from the Greek "eristikos," meaning "fond of wrangling," from "erizein," "to wrangle," and ultimately from "eris," which means "strife." The adjective appeared in print in English in 1637, and was followed approximately 20 years later by the noun "eristic," which refers to either a person who is skilled at debates based on formal logic or to the art or practice of argument.]"Finally, Truth and Progress exhibits both the dazzle and idiosyncrasy of Rorty's literary style and eristic habits--the sharp insider wit, the hyperactive thumb-nailing of other thinkers to hawk fresh images of their thought ..." - Carlin Romano; Books & the Arts: Rortyism for Beginners; The Nation (New York); Jul 27, 1998."Endlessly questioning nuances of meaning in front of exasperated colleagues, or calling attention to inappropriate administrative power, might make you the star of the show in Plato's Academy or Aristotle's Lyceum. But is that too obnoxiously eristic for the faculty meeting, a ritual most characterized by the common desire of its participants to see it end promptly, so everyone can go home and forget about disliked colleagues?" - Carlin Romano; On Collegiality, College Style; The Chronicle of Higher Education (Washington, DC); May 26, 2000.

Eristic Adjective Characterized Noun Arguments Art Means Word