Elenchus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A method of argument that involves questioning to elicit contradictions in the opponent's beliefs
2. A philosophical technique that seeks to expose flaws in reasoning through systematic inquiry
3. A dialogical approach used to challenge and refine ideas by revealing inconsistencies in a person's statements

Etymology: The Greek word "élenkhos" originally meant "refutation" or "scrutiny," and it carried a sense of checking or testing something to see whether it held up. Its roots lie in the idea of putting a claim to the test, and that legal and investigative flavour stayed with it as it passed into philosophy. The word reached English from Latin "elenchus," which took the Greek term over more or less intact. English also has a doublet, "elench," which came into the language by a separate route and kept the same root. The two forms are a useful reminder that a single Greek word can enter a language more than once, with each entry producing a slightly different shape. The term's modern philosophical sense owes much to Plato and Aristotle, who used the method of questioning an opponent until contradictions emerged in their own claims. That is the sense the word now carries: not simply proving someone wrong, but exposing the inconsistency that lies inside their reasoning.

Synonyms: refutation, cross-examination, Socratic questioning, dialectic