Plato on abuse and personal conduct

[Joe McCarthy]

From Laws:

Let this, then, be the law about abuse, which shall relate to all cases:-No one shall speak evil of another; and when a man disputes with another he shall teach and learn of the disputant and the company, but he shall abstain from evilspeaking; for out of the imprecations which men utter against one another, and the feminine habit of casting aspersions on one another, and using foul names, out of words light as air, in very deed the greatest enmities and hatreds spring up. For the speaker gratifies his anger, which is an ungracious element of his nature; and nursing up his wrath by the entertainment of evil thoughts, and exacerbating that part of his soul which was formerly civilized by education, he lives in a state of savageness and moroseness, and pays a bitter penalty for his anger. And in such cases almost all men take to saying something ridiculous about their opponent, and there is no man who is in the habit of laughing at another who does not miss virtue and earnestness altogether, or lose the better half of greatness.

[The Journeyman]

From Laws:

The feminists might dislike this one a bit, but then again feminists don't like to debate either.The message is true. Of course in our feminized society, men don't know how to conduct themselves in an honorable, humble manner anymore. Noone gains anything by ending a discussion with name-calling and insults.

[Adalwolf]

When you live in a society that is so focused on the individual, the respect and courtesy for the common man is non existent. There is more honor in men settling their differences with fists, rather than reciprocal reviling.