What does it mean to argue or ask something “in bad faith”?
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Normally when you argue something or discuss something there is an implicit agreement that both of you are arguing for the sake of discussion or the exchanging of opinions and ideas; and that both of you are “playing fair” and not hiding your motives.
Arguing in bad faith generally means one of you isn’t playing by the rules or are arguing for a dishonest purpose. If you’re arguing something to humiliate the other person, that’s bad faith. If you’re arguing to stroke your ego, that’s bad faith. If you’re arguing to “win” some imaginary battle and aren’t intending to give your opponent a fair shake, that’s bad faith. If you intentionally misrepresent your evidence, lie, cheat, divert the discussion away from areas that you don’t have the upper hand, that’s bad faith.
Questions asked in bad faith work in the same way. Generally one asks a question because they’d like to know the answer, or rhetorically they ask them as a way to highlight some point or argument and get those present to view the discussion in a different light. Asking questions in bad faith means asking a question when you don’t care about the answer nor really are going to engage with it afterwards, you’re just using it as a vehicle to “win” or otherwise use the answer to jump in to other bad faith argument tactics.
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