Cover Photo by 132369 from Pixabay

Motte-and-bailey is a terrain structure. A bailey is a desirable area for livelihoods, while vulnerable to attacks. This is why a motte comes in. On the motte, a stone castle is built as a defensible area for the bailey inhabitants. Under invasions, the inhabitants evacuate into the castle. Then the sole bridge connecting the bailey and the motte will be closed. Staying on steep terrain, the castle has been upheld as sacrosanct. Once the invaders have given up, the inhabitants return to the bailey and resume their life.

This structure is an innovation of defense by Europeans in the medieval period.

Motte and bailey. Image credit: George Ghidrai

In dialogue, motte-and-bailey is a rhetorical structure. The speaker believes in a bailey statement. The statement is often too controversial to ward off critics under close scrutiny. Thus, whenever feeling hard to defend, the speaker will retreat to a motte statement. Motte statements are about common-sense or generic values. Once the motte statement has been accepted. The bailey statement remains the speaker’s desired viewpoint.

Nicholas Shackel, a British professor of philosophy, coined the term “Motte-and-Bailey doctrine”. He used it to unravel fallacies in some philosophical doctrines.

Bailey - Scientific knowledge is just as valid as cultural knowledge. The Sun is a sphere of gaseous substances; this theory is just as real as a folk theory that the Sun is a deity’s creation.
Reality - Questions on differences in processes of building and updating knowledge.
Motte - Reality is socially constructed.

Castles hidden in plain sight

Meaningless wars

Bailey - X is a war for our peace and safety.
Reality - The war lasts for so long that the military budget keeps increasing. The meaning of the war is brought into question.
Motte - Don’t you support our troops?

Placebo solutions

Bailey - X supports treatment and prevents growth of the tumor.
Reality - Questions on the effectiveness of the solution
Motte - What do you have to lose? All patients need optimism. Even a placebo solution can reduce their stress.

Such-and-such forecasts

Bailey - The UN WFP warned that about 265 million people may suffer hunger due to the economic impact of COVID-19. Open up America again!
Reality - Questions on safety for opening up too soon.
Motte - The economic impact of quarantine is real. Don’t you care about people who are living paycheck to paycheck?

The bricks building up those castles?

I’ve encountered many conversations with the motte-and-bailey structure. From trivia in life or a meeting at work, to academic discussions that are supposed to be rational. These conversations often make emotions run high. They start with fierce debates on intertwined cause-and-effects. They end with reluctant acceptance of the motte statement.

Through the lens of Developmental Psychology, it seems to me the castle is more or less an image of moral values. Putting down the motte statement turns into an attack on one’s own personal faiths. A sophisticated bait-and-switch technique. In dialogue with oneself, it may even develop into an effective ego defense mechanism.

Now when meeting motte-and-bailey conversations, I intently listen instead of continuing to argue. Some perspectives need more time to reflect. The stronger the castle, the more challenging it is to shed light on every corner.

No matter how strong or intelligent you are, don’t try to fight your emotions. Our emotions drive what we hear. Rational and irrational thinking can be two faces of the same coin. It’s an effort to balance conflicts of emotions so that our mind will not fall into anxiety.