Re:MIT abandons use of DEI statements
by thaumasiotes on Monday May 06, 2024 @01:10AM
(#40271311)
You haven't actually described any differences between the terms. (Well, you did claim one, that "motte-and-bailey is more specific", but combined with your appeal to "actual usage", that is clearly untrue.)
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Motte-and-Bailey speaks to equivocating about positions in argument. There are many other ways to equivocate, e.g. over the meaning of a single word, used in multiple ways in the same argument, as opposed to a retreat to an easier-to-defend position over the initial one presented/being discussed - as in the thread above.
The relationship between the two words is akin to the one between “rectangle” and “square”.