The Lost Art of the Argument

The idea for this blog came from a talk that Douglas Wilson gave at Indiana University earlier this year. If you haven’t watched it yet you really should. It’s quite good. I’ve blogged about it before. But the Q & A at the end is, as far as I’m concerned, where the action on these videos is at. During the Q & A Doug is bombarded with question insult after question insult. But one questioner really struck me. It was a young man who says something like “I’d like an answer. This time with logic please.” He then proceeds to interrupt Doug with exclamations about how his answer doesn’t make sense.

All this got me to thinking that people have really lost the art of the argument. Indeed, were it not for my philosophy and history studies I fear I would not possess it at all. So, I’m going to give you a really basic primer on how to argue.

“Argument” is not a Bad Thing

“Argument” in its most traditional sense simply means that we disagree and now we’re talking about it. The following is NOT a traditional argument,

“The Office is dumb.”

“No, it’s not!”

“Yes, it is!”

These guys REALLY love The Office.

This IS, technically, an argument, but a really stupid and unproductive one. Here is a traditional and useful argument.

“The Office may be the best show on television. It has excellent characters and is well written.”

“I disagree, while Dwight and Creed are funny the rest of the characters, and the writing, is derivative.”

“Please explain.”

“Okay . . . “

See what happened there? In the traditional argument two differing points converge. A premise is stated, “The Office may be the best show on television. It has excellent characters and is well written.” After that, an opposing premise is presented backed up by supporting claims. That is how an argument is supposed to go. It is important, at this point, to note that it is the dissenting view (The Office is bad) to prove the other wrong but not always.

Burden of Proof: A Woefully Misunderstood Concept

Some Atheists use Russell’s Celestial Teapot example to show that proving God is ALWAYS on the Christian. Commonly the refrain is, “there is no God. He’s like the teapot; YOU have to prove ME wrong. The burden of proof is on you!” 

That is not entirely correct. Burden of Proof can be tricky but I’ll do my best to show how it works. If I assert something my opponent has two valid options they can say “what is your proof?” or “No, that is wrong. Here is why.” If your opponent answers with the former the burden of proof is on YOU. If he answers with a dissenting view it is now up to him to explain why. Basically, contradicting me doesn’t automatically put the burden of proof on my argument. Now, it’s time to make your arguments.

Marshaling Arguments

I've always loved the phrase “marshaling arguments.” 

Think of your arguments as soldiers and the opponents’ arguments as opposing soldiers. Essentially, the ways you arrange and send forth your arguments is going to determine who “wins the fight.” How do you marshal arguments? Here are some basics,

• Use only relevant facts. 
• Good: The Office is a good show because is causes me to laugh which is its intended purpose 
• Bad: The Office is good because cats have tails. 
• When possible use your opponents’ arguments against them. 
• Ex. “You say the office is derivative but there are many shows that now use the ‘documentary style’ format. That format was not popular until the Office came along.” 
• Avoid Fallacies 
• I’m not going to get into formal fallacies. They are not fun and are a little less common in everyday language. However, be very wary of informal fallacies! They pop up all the time. Knowing how to spot them and neutralize them is a valuable skill (Blog idea!). Check out this list of fallacies to get an idea about them. 
• Make sure that your supporting points always lead back to your initial premise. 
• Ex. “The Office has good characters. Also, the writing is creative and insightful. For those reasons, and others, the Office is a good show.”
  

Some Non-Argument Things to Keep in Mind

Remember that you will probably not convince your opponent of your rightness especially on big issues like God’s existence or abortion. Side note, it is a SWEET feeling when your opponent is forced to admit your rightness, but it doesn’t happen often. But I digress. There are two things to remember when it comes to disagreements. One, you both can’t be right but that’s okay. This doesn’t mean that you have to say “okay, I guess both of us are right.” It means you can say “Listen, I’ve presented my arguments and you yours. I think you’re wrong but I don’t seem to be convincing you.” People can have different opinions.

The other thing to remember is to be polite. So you don’t agree. It’s not a problem. I will make one important exception. If people could get hurt or in trouble don’t be polite. If you’re disagreeing about robbing a bank, don’t be nice. However, does your friend think God doesn’t exist? While his soul is in the balance you’re not going to win him over by being arrogant with your arguments for God’s existence. Remember, the way you act is at least equally important to the arguments you make.

So there you have. Stick with these basics and I guarantee you win more arguments and be better liked.

Another blog on the books! How do I keep up this pace? Follow me on the twitter, you won't regret it.

Wrath of God ReDux

Remember when I blogged about God's Wrath? You don't remember it? Well deal with it, it happened. The reason that I bring this up is because I saw that Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian and all around excellent author, wrote about the same subject.

You should check it out. 

Call it a comeback.

Man I was in a sweet groove for a while there. Hopefully, I can get back in the game an finish out the year strong!

We've been getting ready for the new semester at Faith Bible Seminary. Check out this video while I think of some good ideas to blog about.


MABC Overview from Faith Ministries on Vimeo.

Delays :(

Sorry guys today was a crazy day here at work. But keep your eyes open for a new post Monday.

Update: Man I hate to do this but with family in town and wedding to go to I'm not gonna have a lot of quality "computer time" for the next week. I hate to say it (again) but another week delay is in order. New post Monday 8/20/2012.

In Soviet Union Review Watches You!

This book review is going to be a little different than the other ones but here we go anyways.

Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm

About a year ago the seminary that I work for joined the world of twitter. Partly at my behest and, in a careful what you wish for situation, I was made curator of our Twitter feed. So now there was the small problem that I didn't really know what I was doing. That's when our director of electronic communications suggested the above book. Twitter Power was a very helpful book if a little outdated.

The Twittersphere was a very different place when Joel Comm wrote this book but his basic principles remain very relevant. Comm says that the number one thing to remember is that Twitter, like all social networking programs, is about community and relationships. This is a great reminder that networking is about people. Some of the practical advice Comm throws out is stuff like answering questions immediately, ask questions of your users, offer advice, and give out promotions. So as you build relationships you build your community. Finally, as you build community you advertise effectively. 

This is great advice in our day and age when everyone just uses Twitter as a glorified RSS feed. While it is hard to implement if you can build the community he talks about you really can dominate your market. 

My major criticism of this book is that the info in this book is a little outdated. For example, he mentions how to re-tweet but much of that information is irrelevant. Also, it is no longer considered proper etiquette to follow everyone who follows you. Unless, of course, you're really interested in following a bunch of bots that are spamming porn.

How does this help me be a man?

Well, I guess the stuff about maintaining relationships is good. But, for the most part, this a book is chock full of practical knowledge on a specific subject. Sorry guys, not a lot of applications here.

Recommendation

If you tweet on a regular basis for an organization or business this book is very valuable. Otherwise, its probably not worth the trouble. 


Update: As I was grabbing links for this blog I found out there's a Twitter Power 2.0! I'll have to check that out.