• The Art of the Argument

  • Western Civilization's Last Stand
  • By: Stefan Molyneux
  • Narrated by: Stefan Molyneux
  • Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,088 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Art of the Argument  By  cover art

The Art of the Argument

By: Stefan Molyneux
Narrated by: Stefan Molyneux
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The Art of the Argument shocks the dying art of rational debate back to life, giving you the essential tools you need to fight the escalating sophistry, falsehoods, and vicious personal attacks that have displaced intelligent conversations throughout the world. At a time when we need reasonable and empirical discussions more desperately than ever, The Art of the Argument smashes through the brain-eating fogs of sophistry and mental manipulation, illuminating a path to benevolent power for all who wish to take it.

Civilization is defined by our willingness and ability to use words instead of fists - in the absence of reason, violence rules. The Art of the Argument gives you the intellectual ammunition - in one concentrated, entertaining and powerful package - to engage in truly productive, civilization-saving debates. Armed with this book, you will be empowered to speak truth to power, illuminate ignorance, shatter delusions, and expose the dangerous sophists within your own life, and around the world.

©2017 Stefan Molyneux (P)2017 Stefan Molyneux

What listeners say about The Art of the Argument

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    719
  • 4 Stars
    151
  • 3 Stars
    65
  • 2 Stars
    47
  • 1 Stars
    106
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    724
  • 4 Stars
    120
  • 3 Stars
    51
  • 2 Stars
    37
  • 1 Stars
    69
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    647
  • 4 Stars
    136
  • 3 Stars
    69
  • 2 Stars
    37
  • 1 Stars
    98

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Annoying

I thought this would be a book about the principles of argument. It was actually more a philosophical discussion of the concept of argument. I couldn’t finish because the book was unnecessarily wordy to the point where it was annoying. After 3 hours of what I can best describe as rambling (though the rambling may have some great philosophical perspectives), it is really somewhat pointless. The writing style paints the author as overwhelmingly arrogant as well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

79 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Verbose

Redundant explanations made the book twice as long as necessary. Otherwise good content and performance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

like an extra long podcast

I listen to free domain radio every day, so listening to Stefan speak for 5 hours was no difficult feat. this book has some great arguments and ideas in it. it's worth listening to a few times over.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Book Tries to Convert You to Christianity

This book is supposed to be about argumentation, but is actually about why the Christian Right is good and the Atheist Left is bad.

If this author is going to make an honest argument for why you should be a Christian, why doesn't he put that in the title of the book? Instead, he pretends that he's writing about a secular topic, and then sneaks in his religion.

Here are a couple of flawless arguments the book makes:

"Of course the fact that atheists tend to be leftists does not mean that atheism causes leftism in politics, the causality could go the other way, that leftism in politics causes atheism, or there could be a third factor that affects both, perhaps a belief in Darwinian evolution triggers a belief in both leftism and atheism, since the poor are denied rewards in heaven, we must give them money here on Earth."

In this argument, the author presents a strawman answer for why atheism and political leftism are linked. Yes, it must be because the evil theory of Darwinian evolution somehow triggers both atheism and leftist thought at the same time.

Of course, we know from extensive research that religiosity has a negative correlation with IQ (between -.2 and -.25). The more intelligent you are, the more likely you are to be atheist and liberal (google it). Having a higher IQ makes you less likely to believe in any of the magical gods worshipped by man. That includes the Christian god and the invisible hand of the laissez-faire free market god. Liberals and atheists both know that the gods will not save us, and left to its own devices, the market god will quickly devolve into a handful of monopolies. Just look back in history at the robber barons and their anticompetitive trusts. That's what an unregulated market will do.

Here's another beautiful argument from the book:
"Christianity generally opposes massive government growth, since for Christians, free will is essential for morality, and government coercion strips citizens of free will."

This ridiculous string of half-truth equivocations made my head spin. The author is actually implying here that atheists are somehow in favor of massive government growth, and Christians are against government growth because it is a form of coercion. So is the author saying that Christians want a smaller military? Last time I checked, the military makes up 56% of total US government spending. According to the author's logic, that military spending is automatically coercion because it is money being spent by the government. Now find me a Christian who wants to shrink the military. I'll go ahead and wait while you do that.

In the meantime, I'm going to go return this nonsense book. Spiritual people, please stop trying to set me up on a blind date with your gods. If I want to read a book of fairy tales I will pick up the Brother's Grimm.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Well written and read but...

the writer / performer did an excellent job of cleary conveying complex concepts in a way that the "average" reader could understand. The majority of the book covers common debate tactics by using generalized if not mundane arguments. Such as, "a person cannot begin an argument by stating the number one is the same as the number ten and come to a reasonable conclusion". Fine with me, a good example. However, the writing and format of the book at times seem like a disingenuous rouse to further the writers right wing leanings. How else do the examples of arguments turn from "gravity exists" to "the nanny state encourages single motherhood"? I will grant when the writer makes some valid arguments on these matters, but question if they belong in a book that in no way warns the reader they are about to embark on a political narrative.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

This is not a guide to winning arguments.

This book was advertised as a argument guide and it is not. The writing is very chopped the book just does not flow. The book repeats concepts very early . Not what I was looking for. If your wanting to buy this book as a guide to better handle yourself in arguments this is not it at all.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

touts logic and argument , uses neither

book tries to explain formal fallacies and counters to informal fallacies by using formal fallacies. author is bias, offers opinion as facts in examples and any disagreement is dismissed as a "illiteracy to logic". In fairness I bought the book because of the title and was fooled. The author asks "are you triggered yet?" in the foreword which should have been the dead give away of a terrible author. In short this was my fault for not researching prior to purchase but please don't waste your time on this if improving your future arguments is your aim.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narrator read the book like he was in 4th grade.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narration was terrible. The author's style of placing a period in the middle of every sentence was distracting and made the book hard to enjoy.

Would you be willing to try another book from Stefan Molyneux? Why or why not?

No. Though I generally agree with conservative views, I felt that his right-leaning examples took the book over and didn't focus enough on argumentative structure.

Would you be willing to try another one of Stefan Molyneux’s performances?

No.

Any additional comments?

The author should try to stick more to the subject and NEVER narrate another book unless he learns who to read a complete, uninterrupted sentence.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential book...

As always Stefan promises and delivers! This book is an excelent guide to argumentation. It's simple enough so even layman can understand It and short enough to encourage rereading! Highly recommended!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Important message, awkward reading

Stefan Molyneux has an evocative and florid style in his writing. Unfortunately, the audiobook’s effect is lessened by his own reading of it. In short, he reads the entire book like it’s a Captain Kirk monologue. Filled with mid-phrase pauses, sudden shifts in tempo, and wide ranges in dynamics, Molyneux’s overly dramatic reading goes to distract from the message of the book rather than enhance or stress his points. It took me very long to get through this book for that very reason.

Point of the book: argumentation is the basis for peaceful resolution of conflict and cooperation. Convince one another through reason, or else fall pray to sophistry - irrational attempts to suppress reason through manipulation, lies, aggression, etc. Therefore argue for truth. Argue for the argument. And be willing to change your own mind if the face of truth and reason.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful