Kindle Notes & Highlights
the purpose of using language is to convey meaning, to give ideas that we have to someone else.
argumentation is that form of discourse that we use when we attempt to make some one else believe as we wish him to believe.
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
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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.
Define terms carefully; make the definition clear; do not define in a circle, and do not beg the question.
