A
proposition which you deny, or cast doubt on, by the act of making it.
Habermas claimed that
manipulation was a form of performative
contradiction. To take part in a
conversation involves an
implicit commitment to ideals of
truth, normative
rightness and
sincerity, which manipulative speech goes against.The simplest case: "
Are you asleep?""Yes."
Slightly subtler: "I've got to stop reinventing myself."
I collect them.