Bad Faith Argument

"Bad Faith" is a term that is thrown around a lot in the industry in which I work (litigation, insurance). I think that it is a term of art in the world of insurance, but I'm talking about the greater notion of "arguing in bad faith."

Lets try an example: I think that there is little doubt that I am pro-teachers unions. I used to be an official in one. If one of my readers proposes busting the Speedway Teachers Union, there is no doubt that I would be opposed to it on the grounds that I am pro-union. However, if I argued that, while I too hate unions, the best way to get rid of them is to encourage people to willfully quit the union by paying the teachers better and giving them fewer responsibilities; that is a bad-faith argument. I have claimed to support goals that I do not, in fact, support; I would have then used my supposed shared purpose to advocate a policy that achieves the exact opposite effect.

Here's another example: Staying with the unions, if one of my readers proposed busting the Speedway Teachers Union and I responded by attacking the motives of the person making the proposal . . . "You just want to bust up the union because you couldn't hack it as a classroom teacher and now you want to punish those who can because you're jealous." That too is a bad-faith argument. I would not have addressed the merits of the argument and instead responded with an ad hominem attack.

One final example: Again with the union, instead of responding to the proposal to bust the union by refusing to state my real goal or attacking the person making the proposal, I instead attack the motivations of the person making the proposal. "You don't care about the teacher's union; you're just trying to score political points so you can run for Town Council." Again, I would have failed to address the merits of the argument and instead have attacked the motives of my opponent.

Let's play a parlor game this weekend, as discussion of guns and so much else fills up the Sunday morning talk shows and the Friday evening PBS political discussions: How many times can you spot these three examples of bad faith argumentation? Here they are, once again:
1. Lying about your goals;
2. Attacking the opponent, not the idea;
3. Attacking/questioning the motives of the person proposing an idea, and not attacking the idea.

Please share any examples you may find.