THE REQUIREMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL DEBATING

I. The three requirements stated.

II. How to make clear to the audience what one wishes
them to believe, by:

1. Stating the idea which one wishes to have accepted
in the form of a definite assertion, which is:

(1) Interesting.

(2) Definite and concise.

(3) Single in form.

(4) Fair to both sides.

2. Defining the “terms of the question” so that they
will be:

(1) Clear.

(2) Convincing.

(3) Consistent with the origin and history of the
question.

3. Restating the whole question in the light of the
definitions.

To debate successfully it is necessary to do three things:

1. To make perfectly clear to your audience what you wish them to believe.

2. To show them why the proof of certain points (called issues) should make them believe the thing you wish them to believe.

3. To prove the issues.

Each of these three things is a distinct process, involving several steps. One is as important as another.

It is impossible to prove the issues until we have found them, but equally impossible to show the audience what the issues are until we have shown what the thing is which we wish those issues to support. First, then, let us see what we mean by making perfectly clear what you wish to have the audience believe.

Suppose that you should meet a friend who says to you: “I am going to argue with you about examinations.” You might naturally reply: “What examinations?” If he should say, “All examinations: the honor system in all examinations,” you might very reasonably still be puzzled and ask if by all examinations he meant examinations of every kind in grade school, high school, and college, as well as the civil service examinations, and what was meant by the honor system.

He would now probably explain to you carefully how several schools have been experimenting with the idea of giving all examinations without the presence of a teacher or monitor of any sort. During these examinations, however, it has been customary to ask the students themselves to report any cheating that they may observe. It is also required that each student state in writing, at the end of his paper, upon honor, that he has neither given nor received aid during the test. “To this method,” your friend continues, “has been given the name of the honor system. And I believe that this system should be adopted in all examinations in the Greenburg High School.”

He has now stated definitely what he wishes to make you believe, and he has done more; he has explained to you the meaning of the terms that you did not understand. These two things make perfectly clear to you what he wishes you to believe, and he has thus covered the first step in argumentation.

From this illustration, then, several rules can be drawn. In the first place your friend stated that he wished to argue about examinations. Why could he not begin his argument at once? Because he had not yet asked you to believe anything about examinations. He might have said, “I am going to explain examinations,” and he could then have told you what examinations were. That would have been exposition. But he could not argue until he had made a definite assertion about the term “examination.”

Rule one would then be: State in the form of a definite assertion the matter to be argued.

In order to be suitable for debating, an assertion or, as it is often called, proposition, of this kind should conform to certain conditions:

1. It should be one in which both the debaters and the audience are interested. Failure to observe this rule has caused many to think debating a dry subject.

2. It should propose something different from existing conditions. Argument should have an end in view. Your school has no lunchroom. Should it have one? Your city is governed by a mayor and a council. Should it be ruled by a commission? Merely to debate, as did the men of the Middle Ages, how many angels could dance on the point of a needle, or, as some more modern debaters have done, whether Grant was a greater general than Washington, is useless.

The fact that those on the affirmative side propose something new places on them what is called the burden of proof. This means that they must show why there is need of a change from the present state of things. When they have done this, they may proceed to argue in favor of the particular change which they propose.

3. It should make a single statement about a single thing:

(Correct) In public high schools secret societies should be prohibited.

(Incorrect) In public high schools and colleges secret societies and teaching of the Bible should be prohibited.

4. It must be expressed with such definiteness that both sides can agree on what it means.

5. It must be expressed in such a way as to be fair to both sides.

But you noticed that your friend had not only to state the question definitely, but to explain what the terms of the proposition meant. He had to tell you what the “honor system” was.

Our second rule, then, for making the question clear, is: In the proposition as stated, explain all terms that may not be entirely clear to your audience.

And in explaining or defining these terms, there are certain things that you must do. You must make the definition clear, or it will be no better than the term itself. This is not always easy. In defining “moral force” a gentleman said: “Why, moral force is er er moral force.” He did not get very far on the way toward making his term clear. Be sure that your definition really explains the term.

Then one must be careful not to define in a circle. Let us take, for example, the assertion or proposition, “The development of labor unions has been beneficial to commerce.” If you should attempt to define “development” by saying “development means growth,” you would not have made the meaning of the term much clearer; and if in a further attempt to explain it, you could only add “And growth means development,” you would be defining in a circle.

There is still another error to be avoided in making your terms clear to your audience. This error is called begging the question. This occurs when a term is defined in such a way that there is nothing left to be argued.

Suppose your friend should say to you: “I wish to make you believe that the honor system should be used in all examinations in the Greenburg High School.” You ask him what he means by the “honor system.” He replies: “I mean the best system in the world.” Is there anything left to argue? Hardly, if his definition of the term honor system is correct, for it would be very irrational indeed to disagree with the assertion that the best system in the world should be adopted in the Greenburg High School.

To summarize: Define terms carefully; make the definition clear; do not define in a circle, and do not beg the question.

As you have already noticed, terms in argumentation, such as “honor system,” often consist of more than one word. They sometimes contain several words. “A term [as that word is used in debating and argumentation] may consist of any number of names, substantive or objective, with the articles, prepositions, and conjunctions required to join them together; still it is only one term if it points out or makes us think of only one thing or object or class of objects." In such cases a dictionary is of little use. Take the term “honor system,” the meaning of which was not clear to you. A dictionary offers no help. How is the student who wishes to discuss this question to decide upon the meaning of the term? Notice how your friend made it clear to you. He gave a history of the question that he wished to argue. He showed how the term “honor system” came into use and what it means where that system of examinations is in vogue. This, then, is the only method of making sure of the meaning of a term: to study the history of the question and see what the term means in the light of that history. This method has the added advantage that a term defined in this way will not only be entirely clear to your audience, but will also tend to convince them.

A dispute may arise between yourself and an opponent as to the meaning of a term. He may be relying on a dictionary or the statement of a single writer, while you are familiar with the history of the question. Under those circumstances it will be easy for you to show the judges and the audience that, although he may be using the term correctly in a general way, he is quite wrong when the special question under discussion is considered.

To make this more clear, let us take a specific instance. Suppose that you are debating the proposition, “Football Should Be Abolished in This High School.” Football, as defined in the dictionary, differs considerably from the game with which every American boy is familiar. Further, the dictionary defines both the English and the American game. If your opponent should take either of these definitions, he would not have much chance of convincing an American audience that it was correct. Or if he should define football according to the rules of the game as it was played five or ten years ago, he would be equally ineffective.

You, on the other hand, announce that in your discussion you will use the term “football” as that game is described in Spaulding’s present year’s rule book for the American game, and that every reference you make to plays allowed or forbidden will be on the basis of the latest ruling. You then have a definition based on the history of the question. As you can see, the case for or against English football would be different from that of the American game. In the same way the case for or against football as it was played ten years ago would be very different from the case of football as it is played today.

All this does not mean that definitions found in dictionaries or other works of reference are never good; it means simply that such definitions should not be taken as final until the question has been carefully reviewed. Try to think out for yourself the meaning of the question. Decide what it involves and how it has arisen, or could arise in real life. Then, when you do outside reading on the subject, keep this same idea in mind. Keep asking yourself: “How did this question arise? Why is it being discussed?” You will be surprised to find that when you are ready to answer that question you will have most of your reading done, for you will have read most of the arguments upon it. Then you are ready to make it clear to the audience.

When you have thus given a clear and convincing definition of all the terms, it is a good plan to restate the whole question in the light of those definitions.

For instance, notice the question of the “honor system.” The original question might have been concisely stated: “All Examinations in the Greenburg High School Should Be Conducted under the Honor System.”

After you have made clear what you mean by the “honor system,” you will be ready to restate the question as follows: “The question then is this: No Teacher Shall Be Present during Any Examination in the Greenburg High School, and Every Student Shall Be Required to State on Honor That He Has Neither Given Nor Received Aid in the Examinations.”

Your hearers will now see clearly what you wish them to believe.

Thus far, then, we have seen that to debate well we should have a question which is of interest to ourselves and to the audience. The first step toward success is to make clear to our hearers the proposition presented for their acceptance. This may be done:

1) By stating the idea that we wish them to accept in the form of an assertion, which should be:

a) interesting

b) definite and concise

c) single in form

d) fair to both sides

2) By defining the “terms of the question” so that they will be:

a) clear

b) convincing

c) consistent with the origin and history of the question

3) By restating the whole question in the light of our definitions.

SUGGESTED EXERCISES

1. State the three processes of successful debating.

2. What are the three necessary steps in the first process?

3. What qualities should a proposition for debate possess?

4. Give a proposition that you think has these qualities.

5. Without reference to books, define all the terms of this proposition. Follow the rules but make the definitions as brief as possible.

6. Make some propositions in which the following terms shall be used: (1) “Athletics,” (2) “This City,” (3) “All Studies,” (4) “Manual Training,” (5) “Domestic Science.”

7. Point out the weakness in the following propositions (consider propositions always with your class as the audience): (1) “Physics, Chemistry, and Algebra Are Hard Studies.” (2) “Only Useful Studies Should Be Taught in This School.” (3) “All Women Should Be Allowed to Vote and Should Be Compelled by Law to Remove Their Hats in Church.” (4) “Agricultural Conditions in Abyssinia Are Superior to Those in Burma.”

8. Compare the dictionary definition of the following terms with the meaning which the history of the question has given them in actual usage:

(1) Domestic science.

(2) Aeroplane exhibitions.

(3) The international Olympic games.

(4) Township high schools.

(5) National conventions of political parties.