Devil's Advocate

Definition: the Devil's Advocate is a skeptical debating approach in which someone, for the sake of the discussion, takes a position (s)he does not necessarily agree with.
Is is also used to indicate the person using such approach.
The aim of the DA approach is either to test the validity, strengths and weaknesses of the argument, or to indirectly argue the opposite of what is actually said, or a more conventional stance.
The DA process has in common with Dialectic Inquiry that it is a confronting type of debating or communication. The DA also plays a role as the black hat in the Six Thinking Hats.

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