Can You Convince Me Seminar

Can You Convince Me?
The Art of Informal Debate
C. J. Quinones, 2009

What is Informal Debate?
A debate is a contest, or, perhaps, like a game, where two or more speakers present their arguments intent on persuading one another.
Informal debate can happen anywhere.

Argument vs. Debate
Debate or debating is a formal method of interactive and representational argument.
In logic, an argument is
a set of one or more meaningful declarative sentences (or "propositions") along with another meaningful declarative sentence known as the premise, (or "proposition") known as the conclusion.
Premises and conclusions are either true or false.

Forms of Argument
Deductive
asserts that the truth of the conclusion is a logical consequence of the premises.
Inductive
asserts that the truth of the conclusion issupported by the premises.

Deductive Arguments

A deductive argument is one in which it is impossible for the premises to be true but the conclusion false.

It can be valid or invalid
An argument is valid if and only if:
the truth of the conclusion is a logical consequence of the premises and (consequently) its corresponding conditional is a necessary truth.
It can be sound or unsound
A sound argument is a valid argument with true premises.

Example
1. All men are mortal. (premise)
2. Socrates was a man. (premise)
3. Socrates was mortal. (conclusion)

Inductive Arguments
An inductive argument is one in which the premises are supposed to support the conclusion in such a way that if the premises are true, it is improbable that the conclusion would be false.
Thus, the conclusion follows probably from the premises and inferences.

Example
1. Socrates was Greek. (premise)
2. Most Greeks eat fish. (premise)
3. Socrates ate fish. (conclusion)

Logical Fallacies
Fallacies are defects in an argument that cause it to be invalid, unsound, or weak.
In a deductive argument,
the existence of a fallacy means that the argument is not valid - even if the premises are true, the conclusion might still be false.
A fallacy does not guarantee it is false;
a fallacious argument fails to provide a good reason to believe the conclusion, even if that conclusion is correct.

Common Logical Fallacies
Fallacies of Relevance
* Ad Hominem (Personal Attack)
* Bandwagon Fallacy
* Fallacist’s Fallacy
* Fallacy of Composition
* Fallacy of Division
* Gambler’s Fallacy
* Genetic Fallacy
* Moralistic Fallacy
* Naturalistic Fallacy
* Red Herring
* Weak Analogy
* Irrelevant Appeals
o Appeal to Antiquity / Tradition
o Appeal to Authority
o Appeal to Consequences
o Appeal to Force
o Appeal to Novelty
o Appeal to Pity
o Appeal to Popularity
o Appeal to Poverty
o Appeal to Wealth
Logicalfallacies.info

Common Logical Fallacies
* Cum Hoc Fallacy
* False Dilemma / Bifurcation Fallacy
* Hasty Generalization Fallacy
* ‘No True Scotsman’ Fallacy
* Post Hoc Fallacy
* Slippery Slope Fallacy
* Sweeping Generalization Fallacy
* Subjectivist Fallacy
* TuQuoque Fallacy
Fallacies of Ambiguity
* Accent Fallacies
* Equivocation Fallacy
* Straw Man Fallacy
Fallacies of Presumption
* Affirming the Consequent
* Arguing from Ignorance
* Begging the Question / Circular Reasoning
* Complex Question Fallacy
Logicalfallacies.info

How to Win Informal Arguments and Debates
Decide on a position and become well-informed.
Find someone to debate with.
Begin by stating a thesis.
Respond to objections.
Build on your opponent’s objections.
Attempt to resolve each point before moving ahead.
Remain calm, rational and reasonable.
Have patience.
Use effective speech and grammar.
Ask questions.
Be willing to lose.
Don’t take too much pride in being right.
http://www.wikihow.com

Now You Try!
Find a short news article from cnn.com or nytimes.com on an issue you are interested in. Become informed.
Take a position and discuss it with a partner. If they agree, find a partner who may not feel exactly the same on the issue.
We will rotate. After each rotation, you will fill out a card about how convincing each person was.