1. Debate 3 and Counter-arguments

2. Exericise - Debate Finish preparing your arguments from last week. Remember, your claim should essentially align either with “Lean in” (Sandberg) or “Recline” (Brooks). Lean In: Women should aggressively fight to stay in the workforce and get the top jobs that men often have. Recline: The way work is understood needs to be changed so that traditional male careers are more friendly to different demands placed on women.

3. Rules of Debate Like our first debate, each team will have a chance to present their arguments. Each member of the team has one minute to present a specific point. Then, we will have 2-3 rounds for teams to respond to each other’s points. Afterwards, we will have a few minutes for free discussion. The rest of the class must listen attentively, vote on which team won, and provide some reasoning for that decision based on the quality of argumentation, not whether they personally agree with the argument beforehand.

4. Exercise – Try It Out Think of a possible counter-argument to your claim for your research paper. How would you respond to this argument? Try to give some reasons why the argument does not defeat your overall claim.

5. Counter-arguments A counter-argument is an argument opposed to the argument that you support. As a separate argument, it has its own claim, grounds, and warrants used to make its case. Generally speaking, a counter-argument is what you should expect to see anytime you put forth an argument to somebody who doesn’t already agree with you. Encountering a counter- argument is not a bad thing; it is a sign that you are debating something about which people disagree. If everyone agreed unanimously, there wouldn’t be much point in debating.

6. How to Deal with a Counter- Argument People often try to brush counter-arguments aside as quickly as possible, often employing one of the logical fallacies that we discussed earlier. Fallacies often used to dismiss counter-arguments include the ad hominem fallacy, the appeal to force, the appeal to pity, the red herring, and the slippery slope. Ex. Your mother asks you to take out the garbage. You tell your mother that you did it the last three times and your brother should do it this time (CA). Your mother tells you, “Take it out this minute, or you’re grounded for a week!”

7. The Better Approach Using a fallacy may trick some people into believing you, or force others into complying with your wishes, but it does not help you actually win the argument. When you resort to a fallacy, you really haven’t dealt with the counter-argument, and you are implicitly acknowledging that it is valid and that you have lost. Instead, to counter a counter-argument, you must provide a rebuttal, a form of reasoning that shows why, despite the counter-argument, your original argument still holds. A rebuttal doesn’t dismiss the counter-argument as ridiculous; it simply shows why it does not change the truth of your overall claim. Ex. Instead of threatening you, your mother might explain that the garbage is making the whole house smell bad and that your brother is currently at soccer practice.

8. Types of Rebuttals Faulty Factual Assumption Faulty Analytical Assumption Faulty Values True but Irrelevant Makes the Argument Stronger

9. Faulty Factual Assumption Here, you simply show that the counter-argument, though seemingly convincing at first glance, is actually wrong. In essence, you attack the grounds of the argument, showing them to be false, and as a result, the claim of the counter-argument will also be false. Ex. Racism is a thing of the past; therefore, students don’t need to bother with it.

10. Faulty Analytical Assumption Here, you do not attack the information supporting the counter-argument; instead, you attack the reasoning used to produce it. In essence, you are showing the warrant of the counter-argument to be faulty. The counter- arguer assumes some piece of real information supports his/her claim, but the generalization on which this is based isn’t really true. Ex. Learning about racism might make students more racist.

11. Faulty Values This kind of rebuttal is a little vaguer. Arguments often appeal to value systems considered to be shared by both the arguer and the audience (Stealing is wrong). If a counter-argument makes this kind of appeal, you can point that this assumption about values is wrong and that people actually sympathize with your values. This is a little like refuting an appeal to the people. Ex. Who cares if students are racist?

12. True but Irrelevant In this case, you acknowledge that the counter-argument is completely valid; its grounds, warrants, and claim work together. Yet, the claim established does nothing to refute your claim. It leaves your claim essentially untouched. This is a bit like pointing out that the counter-argument is a sort of red herring. Ex. Students are already familiar with racism; they don’t need to study it in school.

13. Makes the Argument Stronger Sometimes, you can actually turn a counter-argument directly to your advantage. In some cases, when understood properly, the information presented by a counter-argument can actually be used instead to support the original argument. Ex. Previous generations didn’t study the causes of racism, so why start now?

14. Qualifiers Frequently, you cannot simply refute a counter-argument by pointing out that it is faulty. Often, the counter-argument is valid, and you have to adjust your argument in order to account for its validity. In this case, you should introduce what is called a qualifier, a condition you place on your argument to exempt it from the counter-argument. Ex. Students might not like being forced to learn about racism (CA) Qualified Claim: Students should learn about what causes racism, not just lectured on the fact that racism is bad.

15. Deliberately Using a Counter- Argument There are several good reasons to bring up possible counter-arguments yourself: 1. It makes you look balanced and reasonable. Nobody will suspect you of suppressing evidence 2. It lets you define the counter-argument on your terms. Of course, you have to represent it reasonably, but you can present it in a way that makes it easier for you to construct a convincing rebuttal. 3. If counter-arguments make you qualify your claim, you usually end up with a more defensable claim overall.

16. Two Types of Arguments to Raise 1. Reasonable Argument – If there is a well-reasoned counter-argument to your claim, it’s good to raise it, because otherwise your reader may think that you are simply ignoring an argument that is better than your own. 2. Popular Argument – If there is a widely-believed counter-argument, it is good to bring up, even if easily refuted, because readers will likely be aware of it and may think it is convincing unless it is explicitly refuted.

17. Putting a Counter-Argument in Your Paper Counter-arguments generally come either in the beginning of your paper or towards the end before the conclusion. Here are the two common strategies. 1. Open with a Counter-Argument: This shows your reader that your topic is worthy of debate, shows you take opposition seriously, and lets you clear away a potential problem early on. 2. Use a Counter-Argument after Your Main Points: After you’ve built your case, this allows you to seal the deal by showing that you’ve thought of everything. Your reader should already be convinced, but you’re willing to do even more to show why other arguments can’t beat yours.

18. Introducing the Counter-Argument and Rebuttal Usually, a counter-argument is introduced in the form of an opposition (but, yet, however). Then, the rebuttal acknowledges the argument and presents another opposition (but, yet, however). Ex. Citizens owning guns is bad. However, some people have argued that good people with guns will protect us from bad people who try to hurt us. While this may be true, such good people would not have to protect us if bad people did not have guns in the first place.

19. Exercise For the following claims, find a possible counter-argument and then provide a possible rebuttal affirming the initial claim or a qualifier that modifies it. 1. No country should ever meddle in the affairs of another country. It infringes on that country’s sovereignty and creates messy crises. 2. Olive oil is high in fat. Since too much fat is bad for you, people should stop using olive oil to cook.