Polemicism

A polemic (/pəˈlɛmɪk/) is contentious rhetoric that is intended to support a specific position by aggressive claims and undermining of the opposing position. Polemics are mostly seen in arguments about controversial topics. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics. A person who often writes polemics, or who speaks polemically, is called a polemicist. The word is derived from Greek πολεμικός (polemikos), meaning 'warlike, hostile', from πόλεμος (polemos), meaning 'war'.

Polemics often concern issues in religion or politics. A polemic style of writing was common in Ancient Greece, as in the writings of the historian Polybius. Polemic again became common in medieval and early modern times. Since then, famous polemicists have included the satirist Jonathan Swift, the socialist philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the novelist George Orwell and the linguist Noam Chomsky.

Polemics are usually addressed to important issues in religion and politics. Polemic journalism was common in continental Europe at a time when libel laws were not as stringent as they are now. To support the study of the controversies of the 17th–19th centuries, a British research project has placed online thousands of polemical pamphlets from that era. Discussions around atheism, humanism and Christianity have remained capable of polemic into modern times; for example, in 2007 Brian McClinton argued in Humani that anti-religious books like Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion are part of the polemic tradition. The humanist philosopher A. C. Grayling indeed published a book titled Against All Gods: Six Polemics on Religion and an Essay on Kindness in 2008.

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