Examples of Great Arguments and Rhetoric
These quotes must be generalized enough to apply to a variety of situations.
Folksonomies: rhetoric debate
Memes
29 OCT 2013
Complaining About Complaining
Your post complaining about complaining doesn't make the best case against complaining in general.Folksonomies: debate discussion
Folksonomies: debate discussion
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Clever.
28 OCT 2013
Using Lay Audiences to Force Explanation
In many fields—not just philosophy—there are controversies that seem never-ending and partly artifactual: people are talking past one another and not making the necessary effort to communicate effectively. Tempers flare, and disrespect and derision start creeping in. People on the sidelines take sides, even when they don’t fully understand the issues.
It can get ugly, and it can have a very straightforward cause. When experts talk to experts, whether they are in the same discipline or not, t...Often when experts debate, they fall into the trap of assuming one another's expertise and fail to explain basic concepts, with the result that they beging talking past one anothers. An inventive solution to this is to have a group of non-experts be the audience and have the debaters address them instead.
22 OCT 2013
The Steel Man Argument
Sometimes the term "steel man" is used to refer to a position's or argument's improved form. A straw man is a misrepresentation of someone's position or argument that is easy to defeat: a "steel man" is an improvement of someone's position or argument that is harder to defeat than their originally stated position or argument.Folksonomies: debate
Folksonomies: debate
Contrasts with the straw man, work from an idealized articulation of your opponent's viewpoint and try to improve upon it.
22 OCT 2013
The Loser in an Argument is Actually the Winner
He explains, “Suppose you and I have an argument. You believe a proposition, P, and I don’t. I’ve objected, I’ve questioned, I’ve raised all sorts of counter-considerations, and in every case you’ve responded to my satisfaction. At the end of the day, I say, ‘You know what? I guess you’re right.’ So I have a new belief. And it’s not just any belief, but it’s a well-articulated, examined and battle-tested belief. Cohen continues, “So who won that argument? Well, the war metaphor seems to force...The problem with the "war" metaphor for debate is that it defines winning as failing to adjust one's position at the end, while the "loser," the one who has conceded points based on the evidence, comes away from the encounter with a much stronger and tested understanding of the subjectmatter.
22 OCT 2013
The Point of Argument
The point of a good argument isn’t for one person to simply win over the other. It’s ideally for both to come away with cognitive gains.
Even if the goal of an argument is to reach a decision, the goal isn’t to win, the goal is to define the parameters for a good decision and then make the best possible decision with that in mind.
I’ve come to believe that when two reasonably smart people disagree on a subject, at the core, it is often because one of the following:
One or both of the particip...The goal should be to define the parameters of where everyone can agree.
22 OCT 2013
How to Compose a Successful Critical Commentary
How to compose a successful critical commentary:
1. Attempt to re-express your target's position so clearly, vividly and fairly that your target says: "Thanks, I wish I'd thought of putting it that way."
2. List any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
3. Mention anything you have learned from your target.
4. Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.A great list of criteria. Use this before composing any response in online debate.
28 MAY 2013
A Succinct Response to Overgeneralization
I think you may be mistaking what are actually contrasting and often contradictory statements of discrete individuals across several communities for a monolithic statement of belief by a single collective mind.Folksonomies: debate
Folksonomies: debate
Posted to a forum.
References
29 OCT 2013
For modern development, Javascript is just something you ...
Electronic/World Wide Web>Message Posted to a Newsgroup: forgottenpass, (10/29/2013), For modern development, Javascript is just something you need to learn, Retrieved on 2013-10-29Source Material [news.ycombinator.com]
Folksonomies: discussion
Folksonomies: discussion
1 
22 OCT 2013
Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Dennett, Daniel C (2013-05-06), Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking, Penguin UK, Retrieved on 2013-10-22Source Material [books.google.com]
Folksonomies: science
Folksonomies: science
4
22 OCT 2013
Steel man
Electronic/World Wide Web>Internet Article: lesswrong, (10/22/2013), Steel man, Retrieved on 2013-10-22Source Material [wiki.lesswrong.com]
Folksonomies: debate
Folksonomies: debate
1
22 OCT 2013
Argue Well By Losing
Electronic/World Wide Web>Blog: Haack, Phil (Oct 21, 2013), Argue Well By Losing, Retrieved on 2013-10-22Source Material [haacked.com]
1
22 OCT 2013
Argument: When losing is winning
Electronic/World Wide Web>Internet Article: Kent, Leo and Cohen, Daniel H. (1st September 2013), Argument: When losing is winning, Humans Invent, Retrieved on 2013-10-22Source Material [www.humansinvent.com]
1
28 MAY 2013
PETA Wants To Sue Anonymous HuffPo Commenters
Electronic/World Wide Web>Message Posted to Online Forum/Discussion Group: Bob9113, (May 28, 2013 ), PETA Wants To Sue Anonymous HuffPo Commenters, Slashdot, Retrieved on 2013-05-28Source Material [yro.slashdot.org]
Folksonomies: debate
Folksonomies: debate
1
