ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATING FIRST CHAPTER PHRASING THE PROPOSITION "These, then, are the problems we have to consider: the use of the universal laws of reasoning, the development of the habit of analysis and of unprejudiced methods of investigation, the secret of clear and rapid expression of intellectual processes, and the art of adapting one's material to his hearers so as to win their favor and affect their conduct."-R. M. ALDEN. THE object of argumentation, like the object of the law court, is to arrive at definite conclusions regarding definite issues. To attain this object the law court demands that whoever appeals to it shall present a clear case, and "shall set forth with certainty and with truth the matters of fact or of law, the truth or falsity of which must be decided to decide the case." In other words, the proposition and the issues it involves must be clear at the outset. This is true, not only in law courts and legislative assemblies and intercollegiate debates, but as well in every-day, informal discussion. When you meet a classmate on the campus and seek his support for a new daily paper, or call upon a merchant to solicit an advertisement, or write a letter to a friend to convince him of the benefits of a liberal education, or prepare a poster urging students to attend a mass meeting, or write a short editorial in defense of the honor principle in examinations, you are making some use of the universal laws of reasoning for the purpose of winning the favor of somebody and affecting his conduct. In every case, you should have clearly in mind the exact proposition you are trying to prove, even though you do not phrase it in formal ways. For argumentation, a term will not suffice. You may explain the construction of the Lusitania, or describe its appearance on leaving the dock, or narrate the story of its tragic end, or you may argue on either side of the proposition, "The sinking of the Lusitania by Germany was justifiable." The proposition in formal debate corresponds to the motion, resolution, or bill presented in deliberative bodies, such as the branches of Congress. For purposes of debate, the proposition may be phrased in the form of a resolution, such as, "Resolved, that the Democratic Party should nominate Mr. for President," or in the form of a question: "Should the Democratic Party nominate Mr. President?" for It is not easy to phrase the proposition so that it shall mean precisely what we wish to argue; so that it shall include the whole matter at issue, nothing more and nothing less. Yet, unless the proposition is so phrased, a debate may degenerate into a quibble concerning the meaning of the terms. To phrase a proposition properly usually requires care. After a writer has decided on the general subject, he should consider various phrasings before he begins writing an argument. If he wishes to discuss free public high schools, for example, he might phrase his proposition in any of the following ways: 1. Only grammar-school education should be free. 2. In all high schools, supported by the public treasury, a fee of thirty dollars per year should be charged each pupil. 3. High schools, entirely supported by the public treasury, are an injustice to the working-classes. 4. The free high school is an unjust charge upon the public treasury. 5. At least twenty-five per cent of the annual expenses of high schools should be paid by fees required of all pupils. 6. All pupils in public high schools should pay an annual fee of thirty dollars. 7. All pupils more than sixteen years old in public high schools should be required to pay fees. 8. The cost per pupil of high schools, paid out of the public treasury, should never be greater than the cost per pupil of primary and grammar-school education. 9. The expenses of public high schools should be partly met by tuition fees from all pupils. 10. Ninety per cent of the public appropriation for schools should be spent on the primary and grammar schools. 11. Free education by the State should be limited to those ages where compulsory education is required by law. 12. The cost of no public educational institutions except primary schools and grammar schools should be wholly paid by public taxation. Every political campaign shows the need of definite propositions for debate. In a state campaign in Maine, some of the speeches of the Democrats could be reduced to the contention, "Prohibition does not prohibit"; and some of the speeches of the Republicans could be reduced to the contention, “Temperance is a great virtue." As these speeches were not concerned with debatable issues, there was no debate. I. THE PROPOSITION SHOULD BE DEBATABLE The first requirement of the proposition is that it shall be debatable. It is not debatable, (a) if it is obviously true or obviously false; (b) if it cannot be proved approximately true or false. (a) Propositions like those in Geometry, which are obviously true or obviously false, cannot be disputed. The following is an example, though it is recommended in a book on debate: "Resolved, that the only way to benefit the laboring classes or secure any kind of political reform is by the destruction of the liquor traffic." To prove this proposition, one must prove that sanitary conditions, shorter hours, safety devices, compulsory insurance, employers' liability laws, and the prevention of child-labor do not benefit laborers. This proposition is undebatable because obviously false. Such a proposition as this: "Resolved, that breach of trust in high office is reprehensible," is undebatable because obviously true. The same objection holds against propositions that "beg the question": that is, assume to be true or false the point at issue. The word brutal in "The brutal game of football should be abolished," assumes to be true one of the points in dispute. It begs the question. So does the proposition, "Resolved, that the criminal negligence of President Wilson in failing to protect our rights in Mexico was un-American." The school which attempted to decide in debate whether "military drill should be replaced by something more beneficial," found the same difficulty. No debate was possible. The proposition begs the question which was probably intended for debate, namely, whether military drill can be replaced by anything more beneficial. (b) Propositions that cannot be proved approximately true or false are not debatable. Such is the proposition, "Man has done more than woman to advance civilization." One might as sensibly contend that sodium contributes more than chlorine to the value of salt. One of the early presidents of Harvard College wrote a dissertation on the question, "Whether angels speak any language; if so, whether it is Hebrew." Much futile discussion on such questions has sometimes brought debating into ill repute. A question should offer more than an ingenious exercise; it should offer the possibility of reaching, through the process of argument, a reasonably sound conclusion, regarded by the particular audience or disputants as of some practical importance. Much time is wasted in the discussion of undebatable questions. Some students in a New England college attempted to debate the question, "Is iron of more use to mankind than coal?" The talk, which on one side was an enumeration of the uses of coal, and on the other side an equally long list of the uses of iron, showed in the end only that the subject was not debatable. A proposition must offer something more than an opportunity to enumerate "points" on each side; it must offer common standards of comparison, as, for example: "The Single Tax is preferable to the general property tax.” II. THE PROPOSITION SHOULD NOT EMPLOY - The proposition should not hinge on the interpretation of ambiguous terms, that is, words with more than one meaning. Great care must be taken to insure a debate on the proposition itself, by avoiding the necessity of any debate as to the meaning of the proposition. Debates which purport to be on vital matters and become disputes over the meaning of terms are trying to the audience, and not nearly so profitable to the disputants as debates which move directly to fundamental issues. The difficulty of so phrasing a proposition that it shall have one clear meaning and only one, experience will surely show. And this experience is of great value. Even books on debate commend ambiguous propositions, such as the following "standard question for young debaters": "Are the works of nature more beautiful than those of art?" There is nothing at issue here but the meaning of beauty; and since artists and philosophers have failed to reach a satisfactory definition of beauty, the discussion of the question by "young debaters" might be futile. Similarly, the question whether Greek and Latin should be considered essential to a good education involves mainly the definition of the word "good" as applied to education. Likewise the question, "Is law a better profession than medicine?" offers nothing but a controversy over the meaning of the word "better." For debates, the terms of the |