...I, 'what do you think of pleading a cause which you know to be bad?' 'Sir, you don't know it to be bad till the judge determines it. I have said that you are to state your facts fairly; so that your thinking, or what you call knowing, a cause to be bad must be from...

...shall call "the Strong Defense," and which Samuel Johnson summarized with his usual absence of cant as, "Sir, you do not know it to be good or bad till the Judge determines it." The Strong Defense assumes that truth is determined by social dramas, some more formal than others...

...morality of the issue as an effect of its rhetoric or textuality: Sir, you do not know it [the cause] to be good or bad till the Judge determines it. I...be from reasoning, must be from your supposing your arguments to be weak and inconclusive. But, Sir, that is not enough. An argument which does not convince...

...reply to Boswell upon being asked what he thought of "supporting a cause which you know to be bad" was: "Sir, you do not know it to be good or bad till the...cause to be bad, must be from reasoning, must be from supposing your arguments to be weak and inconclusive. But, Sir, that is not enough. An argument which...

...reported that Dr. Johnson took the same position with regard to arguing a case which he knew to be weak: Sir, you do not know it to be good or bad till the Judge determines it. * * * An argument which does not convince yourself, may convince the Judge to whom you urge it: And...

...a judge." BOSWELL. "But what do you think of supporting a cause which you know to be bad?" JOHNSON. "Sir, you do not know it to be good or bad till the...be from reasoning, must be from your supposing your arguments to be weak and inconclusive. But, Sir, that is not enough. An argument which does not convince...