The step to misology is a small one, for, were one to believe argument to be a futile exercise, one could easily come to hate argument. |
The ultimate consequence of misology is a kind of self-destruction in which what is destroyed is that aspect of the self represented by active reason. |
Remember that in Plato's Phaedo, Socrates compares misanthropy to misology, the hatred of speech and logic. |
Misology is like misanthropy in that each arises where there is a great deal of faith but no art or artfulness. |
And for any argument to be so effective, each person must be aware of his identity as inescapably inserted into a speech community and active within it, which the central misology text urges. |
The difficulty in avoiding misology comes from having to engage in arguments to gain the truth, but until the truth is gained the outcome is uncertain. |