ARGUMENT, NOT ABUSE: A PHILOSOPHER’S ADVICE TO MODERN CONTENT WARRIORS
Public debate did not begin with social media. It began in the ancient marketplaces of Athens, where Socrates taught that truth is tested by questioning — not by shouting. He warned that when emotion replaces evidence, a society stops thinking and starts reacting.
History is consistent on this point.
From Socrates to Aristotle, from Cicero to Thomas Aquinas, from John Stuart Mill to Karl Popper, the same standard appears again and again: claims must be answered with counter-claims and counter-evidence — not insults.
When a critic raises numbers, the civilised reply is numbers.
When a critic cites documents, the serious reply is documents.
When a critic makes allegations, the proper reply is verification.
Not mobs. Not labels. Not curses.
The Roman Stoics taught that anger is often the companion of weak argument. Seneca wrote that rage tries to win by force what reason cannot win by proof. If your position is strong, you do not need coordinated outrage — you need audited facts.
Modern democratic theory agrees. John Stuart Mill argued in On Liberty that even a wrong opinion should be answered, not silenced — because truth grows stronger when tested openly. Abuse is not refutation. Volume is not validity.
In the history of science, every major claim is tested through falsification. Karl Popper made this the gold standard: a serious claim must be open to being proven wrong. Therefore, the honorable intellectual position is simple:
“Here are my figures. If they are wrong, show better figures.”
Not:
“Here is my anger. Accept it.”
Public finance is not settled by hashtags. It is settled by:
budget documents,
procurement records,
project registers,
completion certificates,
geo-located assets,
and audited statements.
If someone says money was spent — show the vouchers.
If someone says projects exist — show the coordinates.
If someone says hospitals were built — show the facilities.
If someone says schools were completed — show the enrollment and staff lists.
That is how accountable societies argue.
History also warns us about propaganda cycles. Sophists in ancient Greece specialized in persuasion without truth. Plato warned that when rhetoric outruns reality, citizens become spectators instead of thinkers. The cure is not counter-propaganda — the cure is documented proof.
Let every content creator — pro or anti government — accept one civil rule:
Replace insult with evidence. Replace attack with audit. Replace noise with proof.
Truth does not fear examination.
Reform does not fear questions.
Only falsehood fears verification.
Let the debate continue — but let it rise to the level of reason, history, and philosophy.
AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
