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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   602 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 28, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm picking up Taylor's Hegel, a topic which seems long overdue.

Finished Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay during the week, the third book in the Neapolitan quartet. It's the first one I can really say I enjoyed without reservation, the pacing was on point and Ferrante managed to compel empathy for certain secondary characters in a way she hadn't in previous volumes. When I started reading it I observed that, in retrospect, the first two volumes probably should have been compressed into one, an opinion that hadn't changed when I got to the end.

On the recommendation of Rob Henderson and Theodore Dalrymple, I'm reading François de la Rochefoucald's collection of maxims. One I read this morning that I liked (I'm paraphrasing):

It is possible to find a woman who has never been in a love affair, but rare to find one who has only been in one.

It occurs to me that I know multiple femcels (either in person or people who post here), but am struggling to think of any women I know who've only been in exactly one relationship, my own mother excepted.

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The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

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Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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