0 used to describe an argument that aims to disagree with another one, rather than explain or discover the truth --
Plato believed that the eristic style, did not constitute a method of argument, believing that to argue eristically is to consciously use fallacious arguments therefore weakening one's position.
No matter how one attempts to refute eristic arguments, the argument is designed so that any means of refutation will fail.
Isocrates saw that eristic disputations were of no practical service and did not conjecture about useful things.
It also encompasses eristic dialog, the branch of social debate in which victory over an opponent is the primary goal.
He names these three last methods as eristic dialectic (contentious argument).
That is, eristic arguments focus on being right, or being perceived as right or compelling.
