Kafkatrap

kafkatrap English 2021 April 26 Alternative forms en kafkatrap Etymology From en Kafka trap, en Q188954 2010 1 (see the quotation below) in reference to the novel Der Proceß (The Trial, 1925) by the Bohemian author Franz Kafka (1883–1924), in which a man is accused of crimes that are never specified, and every defense is treated as proof of guilt. Pronunciation en /ˈkæfkəˌtræp/ RP en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Kafkatrap.wav Southern England en /ˈkɑfkəˌtræp/ GA en Kaf ka trap Noun A sophistical rhetorical device in which any denial by an accused person serves as evidence of guilt. from 2010 en Jill said Jack was paranoid, and when he told her he was not she just nodded knowingly. It was a perfect Kafkatrap. en Eric S[teven] Raymond Kafkatrapping Armed and Dangerous blog https://web.archive.org/web/20201219185219/http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=2122 19 December 2020 18 July 2010 One very notable pathology is a form of argument that, reduced to essence, runs like this: "Your refusal to acknowledge that you are guilty of {sin, racism, sexism, homophobia, oppression …} confirms that you are guilty of {sin, racism, sexism, homophobia, oppression …}." I've been presented with enough instances of this recently that I've decided that it needs a name. I call this general style of argument "kafkatrapping", and the above the Model A kafkatrap. In this essay, I will show that the kafkatrap is a form of argument that is so fallacious and manipulative that those subjected to it are entitled to reject it based entirely on the form of the argument, without reference to whatever particular sin or thoughtcrime is being alleged. en Bruce Pardy Apocalyptic Science: How the West is Destroying Itself w:Financial Post https://web.archive.org/web/20210125203211/https://financialpost.com/opinion/apocalyptic-science-how-the-west-is-destroying-itself 25 January 2021 Toronto, Ont. w:Postmedia Network 26 June 2020 1024108253 James Lindsay, an independent American critic of Critical Theory and Social Justice, who along with his partners Helen Pluckrose and Peter Boghossian, masterminded the “Grievance Studies Hoax,” in which they managed to get seven academic papers of critical theory and identity studies nonsense accepted for publication in scholarly journals, calls Critical Theory a "kafkatrap." If you deny that you are a witch, then you are a witch. And if you do not deny it, then you are a witch for sure. en w:Nicoli Nattrass; Jeremy Seekings UCT ‘says no to non-racialism’: A Freudian slip, or an embracing of the cult of ‘anti-racism’? w:Daily Maverick https://web.archive.org/web/20210422121154/https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-09-25-uct-says-no-to-non-racialism-a-freudian-slip-or-an-embracing-of-the-cult-of-anti-racism/ 22 April 2021 Cape Town; Johannesburg Daily Maverick 25 September 2020 1117734205 David Edward Burke, for example, points out that her [Robin DiAngelo's] concept of "white fragility" is a "Kafkatrap" because it is an irrefutable theory: white people are either self-acknowledged racists (proving her theory true) or are denying it (displaying white fragility and therefor proving her theory true). Related terms en Kafkaesque Translations sophistical rhetorical device in which any denial by an accused person serves as evidence of guilt Verb ++ en transitive To employ a Kafkatrap against (someone). en Eric S[teven] Raymond Kafkatrapping Armed and Dangerous blog https://web.archive.org/web/20201219185219/http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=2122 19 December 2020 18 July 2010 The aim of the kafkatrap is to produce a kind of free-floating guilt in the subject, a conviction of sinfulness that can be manipulated by the operator to make the subject say and do things that are convenient to the operator's personal, political, or religious goals. Ideally, the subject will then internalize these demands, and then become complicit in the kafkatrapping of others. en John Faithful Hamer How to Deal with a Progressive Bully w:The Post Millennial https://web.archive.org/web/20210126105638/https://thepostmillennial.com/how-to-deal-with-a-progressive-bully/ 26 January 2021 Montreal, Que. The Post Millennial Corporation 13 March 2019 Progressive bullies seem to delight in kafkatrapping, as it's their preferred strategy of attack in Social Media Land. So you should be prepared for it. May be regarded as a noun use. Alternative forms en kafkatrap Derived terms en Kafkatrapping noun Translations employ a Kafkatrap See also en damned if one does and damned if one doesn't gaslight Further reading list of fallacies en coinages eponyms en Logical fallacies