INTRODUCTION TO DEBATING: ARGUMENTS DBAT 101

What should I say?  Principled Arguments:  We are more ‘Fair’. Often comes down to rights.  Burden is to prove that your principle is more important.  Practical Arguments  We are more ‘Efficient’. About better outcomes.  Burden is to prove that the better outcome will actually happen.

Principled Arguments...  Principles and rights are never absolute.  There exists many competing rights.  How can we weigh up importance?  1. What prerequisites do certain rights need? Are these prerequisites satisfied for the issue in question?  2. Are rights of equal moral value?  3. Who’s rights are we talking about? Many vs few? Strong vs vulnerable?  Goal: Convince us your team has more ‘Just’ intentions.  This requires engaging opposing principle.

...and Practical Arguments?  What benefits can we point to? How do we deliver?  1. Identify different stakeholders.  Be specific. Try and differentiate broader groups.  2. Consider the incentives.  How does the model change incentives?  What behaviours are rewarded? What is punished?  Clearly identify causal links.  3. Once incentives are changed, what are the positive outcomes that result? Why are these good?  Rinse and repeat.

Generating a narrative.  In many ways, debating is about telling a story about:  What the problem is.  What the real world is like.  How people will respond.  Telling an effective story or narrative is important.  Use effective examples to illustrate points. Explain why these examples are similar to your explanation.  Try to give a bit of context in your introduction to describe the world as it is.  Engage and challenge the opposition narrative.  A narrative should work to support and reinforce the logic of your arguments.