“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, ….. is like administering medicine to the dead”
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| Thomas Paine, 1792 |
Now I have to thank my friend Christianna for introducing me to this wonderful riposte to those who wallow in the depths of Holocaust Denial, outlandish conspiracy theories or walk with anti-vaxxers.
And I think it is worth quoting the entire original paragraph, which runs, “To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.
Enjoy, sir, your insensibility of feeling and reflecting. It is the prerogative of animals. And no man will envy you these honors, in which a savage only can be your rival and a bear your master”.
We might today quibble with the last sentence, but in its entirety, it remains a powerful guide to how to treat the outlandish arguments of those who have travelled beyond the borders of reason and reminds me of Deborah Lipstadt’s often referenced explanation for why she doesn’t debate with Holocaust Deniers because it is as pointless as discussing with “the flat-Earth people or the Elvis-is-alive people”.
And so back to the original quotation and a bit of history.
It was written in the March of 1778 by Thomas Paine who was political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. His written works included Common Sense written in 1776, the Rights of Man, 1791 and thirteen pamphlets which collectively are known as and The American Crisis, which came out between 1776–1783.*
The American Crisis was written with a view to galvanise American support for the cause of independence, and contains some pretty good one liners, like, "These are the times that try men's souls:
The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman”, and "Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph”.
And it was from one of those thirteen pamphlets published on March 21st 1778, that our quotation comes from.*
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| General Sir William Howe, engraving, 1872 |
In places it is savage and funny, as when Thomas Paine speculates on the type of monument which might in the fulness of time be erected to Sir William Howe.
But I will close with the last paragraph which perfectly sums up the case for the British withdrawl from America.
"Go home, sir, and endeavor to save the remains of your ruined country, by a just representation of the madness of her measures.
A few moments, well applied, may yet preserve her from political destruction. I am not one of those who wish to see Europe in a flame, because I am persuaded that such an event will not shorten the war.
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| Battle of Bunker Hill, painted in1909 |
England finds that she cannot conquer America, and America has no wish to conquer England. You are fighting for what you can never obtain, and we defending what we never mean to part with.
A few words, therefore, settle the bargain. Let England mind her own business and we will mind ours. Govern yourselves, and we will govern ourselves.
You may then trade where you please unmolested by us, and we will trade where we please unmolested by you; and such articles as we can purchase of each other better than elsewhere may be mutually done.
If it were possible that you could carry on the war for twenty years you must still come to this point at last, or worse, and the sooner you think of it the better it will be for you".
And that is it.
Pictures; Thomas Paine, Laurent Dabos, circa 1792, National Portrait Gallery, Gen. Sir William Howe, Henry Bryan Hall 1872, Battle of Bunker Hill" 1909, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
*Thomas Paine US History .org, https://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/c-05.htm
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