The Word of the day comes from David Mitchell's fourth novel "BLACK SWAN GREEN"
SOPHISTRY
noun
the use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving.
"trying to argue that I had benefited in any way from the disaster was pure sophistry"
a fallacious argument. plural noun: sophistries
SOPHIST
A sophist was a teacher in ancient Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Sophists specialized in one or more subject areas, such as philosophy, rhetoric, music, athletics, and mathematics. They taught arete – "virtue" or "excellence" – predominantly to young statesmen and nobility.