While reading a piece by Stephen Law on Clarity, continental philosophy, and bullshit, I came across this delightfully succinct analysis by Larry Hamelin:
Your friend is dancing the Postmodern Twist, so beloved by such as Camille Paglia.
Step 1: Invert the narrative and deny the implicit privilege of the original frame (legitimate enough)
Step 2: Since the original frame is not The Truthâ„¢, it must be false.
Step 3: Since the original frame is false, the inverted frame is true.
Voila! Black is white, day is night, the oppressor is the oppressed. You can say anything you please this way: Just find someone who disagrees with you and your point is proved!
Of course it doesn’t actually help in dealing with these types, but then what can? In the meantime, having found Stephen’s blog (via Butterflies & Wheels), I’m now working through the last few months’ entries. I like the elegant way in which he deals with the tedious “atheism is just a matter of faith” argument, here, here and here. Highly recommended.