The Art of Being Right

The Art of Being Right is an unfinished work on eristic dialectic written by Arthur Schopenhauer around 1830 and published posthumously in 1864.

Schopenhauer explores eristic dialectic—the art of winning arguments through a series of rhetorical strategies.

Schopenhauer presents 38 stratagems in which he demonstrates that it is possible to manipulate discourse to impose one's own point of view, regardless of whether the premise involved is true or false. Although many of the tactics are unethical, he illustrates how they can work through examples and analysis.

The work can be read as both a practical guide to argumentation and a scathing critique of the techniques commonly employed in rhetoric and debate.

"The Extension. — This consists in carrying your opponent's proposition beyond its natural limits; in giving it as general a signification and as wide a sense as possible, so as to exaggerate it"