Single Answer Principle
also One refutation serves many
One well-written, reusable answer can refute an argument for everyone who makes it, so a refutation is authored once and reused indefinitely rather than rewritten per opponent.
The single answer principle holds that, because arguments are impersonal, a given argument has a single answer that applies to anyone who makes it. You do not owe each opponent a fresh, custom reply; you owe a correct response to the idea. So the rational practice is to write a refutation once and then reuse it — the same text can serve as an answer hundreds of times.
This follows from CF’s emphasis on content over source: what matters is whether the argument is wrong, not who voiced it. If two people raise the same point, the same refutation settles both. The work is therefore amortized rather than repeated.
CF builds infrastructure around this. A thinker accumulates a library of criticisms — reusable, referenceable answers — and maintains written public positions so critics can check what has already been addressed. Temple’s rule of thumb: either an argument has already been answered, or it is novel and worth answering once (which then adds to the library). Answers can even be made to cover whole patterns of objections rather than each instance individually, increasing leverage further.
This is a core efficiency mechanism behind Paths Forward. It makes serious openness to criticism tractable: a person can credibly commit to addressing every error because reuse keeps the cost bounded. People may also adopt answers others wrote, provided they take responsibility for them. The principle opposes the assumption that each interlocutor requires bespoke, from-scratch engagement.