Saturday, September 18, 2010

Discussion Question #9: Section F

In the Epstein book on page 203, section F gives great advice when trying to debate against anyone that makes fallacies or violates the Principle of Rational Discussion.

If an argument is legitimately bad in a way that there's no point in trying to fix it, then don't bother wasting your time. Some people aren't educated on the subject of arguing correctly, so they'll unknowingly make mistakes like the ones discussed in Chapter 11. Instead of pointing out they're "stupid" or "don't know what they're talking about", try approaching them on a softer approach and try to show them what's wrong with their argument. The point of arguing is to convince another, not to make another person feel terrible by bringing either emotions into the argument, or by ridiculing the other person.

Back in high school, we had to debate several times on various political issues such as off-shore drilling and the budget crisis back in 2009. However, no one taught any of us how to effectively "debate" and "argue". People would get up and when they felt "cornered" by another person's argument, would try shifting the burden of proof, or misrepresenting the others argument. It went pretty terrible and there were only a few people who actually got the concept of a debate.

Always remember that arguments need to be bound to logic only. When emotions are brought in, arguments get off-topic and fallacies will be committed. The point of arguing is to convey your point on a subject that is backed by sufficient evidence. If you're arguing with someone, try not calling their arguments stupid or dumb. You should instead try calmly pointing out what's wrong with their argument and asking them to fix it by filling in the blanks. However, there is always someone out there that is just arguing a certain issue with ridiculous claims for the sole reason of annoying others, so evaluate what arguments are worth your time trying to fix.

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