Scholastic polemics refuted arguments without ascertaining whether opponents actually made them.
Evidence
Disproof of this corporal beatitude was taken very seriously. It was both the strength and the weakness of scholasticism to consider every objection seriously, whether plausible or implausible, and even irrespectively of its actually having been made by opponents. There was no seeking for the actual arguments of Muslims. Scholastics generally devoted long sections to their proofs. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 829
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- XREF: The ‘straw man’ as a medieval intellectual practice connects to modern debates about argumentation and intellectual charity — echoes my notes on Milgrom’s law merchant about institutions and information costs, and how polemics treat opponents.
- DEFINE: Defines a weakness of scholastic method: thoroughness toward objections detached from their actual provenance.