In Eristische Dialektik, published after his death and widely read as Die Kunst, Recht zu behalten, the art of being right, Arthur Schopenhauer lists tricks for winning an argument. The last one is to go personal. Beim Persönlichwerden aber verlässt man den Gegenstand ganz, und richtet seinen Angriff auf die Person des Gegners: man wird also kränkend, hämisch, beleidigend, grob. In going personal, one leaves the subject entirely and directs the attack at the opponent’s person. One becomes hurtful, spiteful, insulting, rude. German Wikipedia summarizes: the argument against the person is a way out when the opponent seems to be winning.
Old Men’s Football
In March 2001, after a 0:3 Champions League defeat at Olympique Lyon, the Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer spoke at the midnight banquet. He said the team had played Altherren-Fußball, old men’s football, like Uwe Seeler’s veterans’ team. The players then met in captain Stefan Effenberg’s room. Bayern went on to win the Champions League that season. Effenberg later said the team knew its performance had been catastrophic. He counted the banquet speech among the reasons for the title, even if über die Wortwahl können wir reden oder diskutieren, we can talk or argue about the choice of words.
What One Can Tell a Friend
In a YouGov survey of November 2016, three in four Germans said they could tell a close friend that he or she drinks too much. Just as many could tell a friend that they hold a different opinion on an important topic. Other things are harder to say. 52 percent could not tell a female friend that she does not look good. 40 percent could not tell a close friend that he is a bad father. In a YouGov values study of 2011, 60 percent named honesty as a quality especially close to their hearts, more than any other.
Critical Discourse as a Duty
Since 2019 the German Research Foundation (DFG) has had a binding code of good scientific practice. Its first guideline obliges researchers alle Ergebnisse konsequent selbst anzuzweifeln, to consistently doubt all their own results. They must einen kritischen Diskurs in der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft zuzulassen und zu fördern, allow and promote critical discourse in the scientific community, and keep strikte Ehrlichkeit, strict honesty, about their own contributions and those of others.
Untruths Told to the Boss
In a Glassdoor and YouGov survey of 1,066 employed people in Germany, reported in June 2020, 21 percent said they had once said something untrue because they assumed their boss would not accept a different opinion. 27 percent had lied to hide mistakes and failures. 45 percent said they occasionally lie at work to get by.
The Child in Front of the Class
In summer 1943, after his arrest, the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer worked on a fragment titled Was heißt: die Wahrheit sagen?, what does it mean to tell the truth? Its best-known example: Ein Kind wird von seinem Lehrer vor der Klasse gefragt, ob es wahr sei, dass sein Vater oft betrunken nach Hause komme? A child is asked by his teacher in front of the class whether it is true that his father often comes home drunk. The child denies it. For Bonhoeffer, the denial is untrue, and yet it also expresses a truth. The family is an order of its own, which the teacher had no right to enter. The guilt for the lie falls on the teacher alone.
Rebuke Your Neighbor
In Luther’s Bible, the command to love one’s neighbor comes in the verse after a command to rebuke him. Du sollst deinen Bruder nicht hassen in deinem Herzen, sondern du sollst deinen Nächsten zurechtweisen, damit du nicht seinetwegen Schuld auf dich lädst. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall rebuke your neighbor, so that you do not bear guilt because of him. Du sollst deinen Nächsten lieben wie dich selbst. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. In the Gospel of Matthew, the rebuke is private. Sündigt aber dein Bruder, so geh hin und weise ihn zurecht zwischen dir und ihm allein. Hört er auf dich, so hast du deinen Bruder gewonnen. If your brother sins, go and point out his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.
I Am This Nobody
In 1759 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing answered a claim that nobody would deny that the German stage owed much of its first improvement to Professor Johann Christoph Gottsched. In the 17th of his Briefe, die neueste Literatur betreffend, dated 16 February 1759, he wrote: Ich bin dieser Niemand; ich leugne es gerade zu. I am this nobody. I deny it outright. Es wäre zu wünschen, daß sich Herr Gottsched niemals mit dem Theater vermengt hätte. It would be desirable if Mr. Gottsched had never got involved with the theater.
Praise, but Also Reprimand
The Bundeswehr’s central regulation on leadership, A-2600/1 Innere Führung, first in force on 28 January 2008, tells superiors in its current edition: Lob, aber auch Tadel fördern die Motivation und die Einsatzbereitschaft der Untergebenen. Praise, but also reprimand, promote the motivation and readiness of subordinates. Difficult topics such as wounds, death, fear, guilt and failure dürfen dabei nicht verdrängt oder heruntergespielt werden, sondern müssen ehrlich und einfühlsam besprochen werden, must not be suppressed or played down, but must be discussed honestly and with empathy. In einem offenen Dialog entsteht durch Vertrauen geprägte Kameradschaft. Open dialogue creates comradeship shaped by trust.
Criticism After a Win
In autumn 2012, after a 2:0 win over Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich’s sporting director Matthias Sammer said the team had not played gallig enough, with enough bite, and had been lätschern, limp. Coach Jupp Heynckes disagreed with how he had done it, and told him so. Mit der Form, der Art und Weise war ich nicht einverstanden. Das habe ich ihm auch gesagt. I did not agree with the form and the manner. I told him that too. Er weiß, dass es wichtig ist, diese Dinge in geschlossenen Räumen anzusprechen. He knows it is important to raise these things behind closed doors. That season Bayern won the league, the cup and the Champions League.