pseudodebate

Etymology

From pseudo- + debate.

pseudodebate means something presented as a debate in which there is no real disagreement. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.

Why this word is great

PSEUDODEBATE — [Noun] A discussion or argument presented as a genuine debate but which lacks substantive disagreement or opposing viewpoints. From the combining form pseudo- (from Greek pseudēs, meaning "false") + debate (from Old French debatre, meaning "to fight, contend"). Unlike a true debate, which requires the genuine friction of opposing views, or a dialectic, which aims for a synthesis of truths, a pseudodebate is a ritualized performance of conflict where both sides tacitly agree to keep the foundational premises undisturbed. It is the synchronized parry and thrust of two pundits who ultimately share the same premise; the spectacle of two weathervanes spinning in a manufactured storm; the careful choreography of a shadowboxer and a willing wall—all motion and no impact. We stage them not to discover, but to perform the memory of discovery, a pantomime of resolution that leaves everything exactly as it was.

noun

Something presented as a debate in which there is no real disagreement.“In Constitutional Fate, Bobbitt argues that the controversy over the legitimacy of judicial review is a pseudodebate, driven largely by a false picture of the nature of argument in constitutional law.”