eristic meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

eristic

adj

Etymology Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐριστικός (eristikós, “eager for strife”). See also Eris.

Provoking strife, controversy or discord.

c. 1810-1834? Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notes on Waterland a specimen of admirable special pleading in the court of eristic logic

Derived terms: aneristic, eristically

eristic

noun

Etymology Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐριστικός (eristikós, “eager for strife”). See also Eris.

One who makes specious arguments; one who is disputatious.

A type of dialogue or argument where the participants do not have any reasonable goal. The aim is to argue for the sake of conflict, and often to see who can yell the loudest.

Poets may be incurious of the subtleties of philological eristic, but they are wont to see into the heart of things.1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, “IV. Prometheus”, in Aeschylean Tragedy, page 111: