[WikiEN-l] Nude Kate Winslet Picture

Thu Apr 14 19:45:27 UTC 2005

> Absolutely not.  He specifically said that he "recognized" that people
> were doing something with the deliberate intention of breaching policy.  I
> see no room for misinterpretation.   Having no evidence to show, it seems
> to me that the assumption of bad faith , and a massive, obvious one at
> that, is on his part.  I'm revolted by this.  I see no apology.  I see no
> withdrawal, only weaseling and wriggling.  A disgusting accusstion,
> disgusting behavior in continuing with it.  He has now confirmed his
> accusation of bad faith against a specific, named editor.

Kevin inadvertetly made a paralipsis,
http://www.wordsmith.org/words/paralipsis.html. A paralipsis is
basically a way of trying to state something without having to back it
up. It is another rhethorical trick that is very hard to counter
because the speaker makes sure it is not he who is stating it.

"I've come to the realization that
people are searching out nude pictures to put in the 'pedia. They are
looking
to stir up trouble, mostly to make a point."

This is a bad paralipsis that Tony rightly objected to. Kevin IS
definitely asserting a fact here. He could have gotten away with it by
instead of saying "I've come to the realization that..." say "I have a
feeling that..." or "Someone told me that..." or "I've heard that..."
or "It might be that..." If he would have phrased his paralipsis like
that, Tony would probably appear as a petty troublemaker that
questions something unessential. Still, since noone except Tony has
opposed Kevin's statement, and people have questioned Tony's motives
for "nitpicking," it shows how effective this rhethorical trick is.
Tony has lost, but atleast he got people to question the validity of
Kevin's statement.

-- 
mvh Björn
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Are you bringing anything to this discussion other than literary analysis?