A question before an opinion
A fictional notebook prompt about political disagreement and the value of defining terms before a conversation begins.
What does each speaker mean by the same word?
This fictional note proposes a small reading exercise: before deciding whether an argument is persuasive, write down its central terms. Words such as freedom, security and community may carry different assumptions from one paragraph to the next.
The exercise does not settle a disagreement. It gives the disagreement a clearer starting point.