Emphasis in theoretical exposition can itself shift or weaken an author’s argument

Evidence

If Foucault did not dwell, as a matter of elaborate theory, on such themes of resistance, it is because the focus of his analytic concerns lay elsewhere. It is plausible to argue that emphasis has a decisive function in authorial exposition and production: an overstress on a side issue of an argument (or theory) at the expense of the main components of that argument can shift meaning, give undue importance to secondary issues, weaken the main argument, and possibly put it asunder. — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 346

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Collapsing theory into narrative destroys the critical distance rational critique requires — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 371; Antisystematic essays resist summary because form is essential to their effect — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 541; Beauvoir’s long paragraphs encode her reasoning, so editing them distorts her argument — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 30 (+1 more)