I actually think of Chesterton’s fence argument as a rhetorical move. I imagine that some hypothetical “Alice” says, “I can’t see any reason for this”, in order to force their opponent to justify something which was historically justified by values which are considered obsolete—for instance, “I can’t see any reason why same-sex couples should not marry”. Well, Alice probably can see reasons, but if Alice gives those reasons, she is doing her opponent’s job. If she instead says, “The only reason for this is bigotry,” Chesterton will say, “It’s mean to call me a bigot.” So Alice goes with, “I can’t see any reason for this.” And Chesterton, cleverly says, “Well, if you can’t see the reason for it, it’s because you’re not thinking.”
Note: neither Alice nor Chesterton are arguing in good faith here.
I actually think of Chesterton’s fence argument as a rhetorical move. I imagine that some hypothetical “Alice” says, “I can’t see any reason for this”, in order to force their opponent to justify something which was historically justified by values which are considered obsolete—for instance, “I can’t see any reason why same-sex couples should not marry”. Well, Alice probably can see reasons, but if Alice gives those reasons, she is doing her opponent’s job. If she instead says, “The only reason for this is bigotry,” Chesterton will say, “It’s mean to call me a bigot.” So Alice goes with, “I can’t see any reason for this.” And Chesterton, cleverly says, “Well, if you can’t see the reason for it, it’s because you’re not thinking.”
Note: neither Alice nor Chesterton are arguing in good faith here.