Quotes About Debate

Philosophers have debated the meaning of life for centuries, rarely coming to the same conclusion.

The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

He would wordlessly light up his pungent antiasthma cigarettes in the middle of class and debate openly with his mathematics and literature teachers about inaccuracies he's caught them in.

Donald Rumsfeld. Love him or hate him, you've gotta admit: a lot of people hate him.

For progressives fascist is a conservative who is winning an argument.

There's that expression, David always uses it: 'I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.

In what appears to have been an unplanned quip, Wilberforce asked Huxley if he thought he was descended from an ape on his father's or mother's side. Huxley retorted that he would rather have simian relatives than claim kinship with a man who used his charisma and authority to quash free debate.

Scottish philosopher William Drummond, read: "He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot reason is a fool; he who dares not reason is a slave.

skilled arguers Ã¢â'¬Â¦ are not after the truth but after arguments supporting their views.

In our identitarian age, the bar for offense has been lowered considerably, which makes democratic debate more difficult—citizens are more likely to withhold their true opinions if they fear being labeled as bigoted or insensitive.

Two people feel strongly about an issue, their feelings come first, and their reasons are invented on the fly, to throw at each other. When you refute a person's argument, does she generally change her mind and agree with you? Of course not, because the argument you defeated was not the cause of her position; it was made up after the judgment was already made.

We circle around sacred values and then share post hoc arguments about why we are so right and they are so wrong. We think the other side is blind to truth, reason, science, and common sense, but in fact everyone goes blind when talking about their sacred objects.

And you can't change people's minds by utterly refuting their arguments.

Frame it as a debate, rather than a conflict. Argue as if you're right, but listen as if you're wrong (and be willing to change your mind). Make the most respectful interpretation of the other person's perspective. Acknowledge where you agree with your critics and what you've learned from them.

Rising intolerance for opposing viewpoints is a challenge not only on college campuses but also in our national political discourse.

universities, which ought to be forums for open debate, are developing a reputation for dogmatism and intolerance.

Many students cringe at robust debate; maintaining their ideas of good and evil requires no less than the silencing of disagreeable speakers.

The findings get more disturbing. Perkins found that IQ was by far the biggest predictor of how well people argued, but it predicted only the number of my-side arguments. Smart people make really good lawyers and press secretaries, but they are no better than others at finding reasons on the other side. Perkins concluded that "people invest their IQ in buttressing their own case rather than in exploring the entire issue more fully and evenhandedly.

The International Debate Education Association has suggestions for how to create a debate club.33 Students (and their parents and teachers) can also watch Intelligence Squared debates to see skilled debaters in action.34

skilled arguers Ã¢â'¬Â¦ are not after the truth but after arguments supporting their views."50

Reasoning was merely the servant of the passions, and when the servant failed to find any good arguments, the master did not change his mind.

When you refute a person's argument, does she generally change her mind and agree with you? Of course not, because the argument you defeated was not the cause of her position; it was made up after the judgment was already made.

people invest their IQ in buttressing their own case rather than in exploring the entire issue more fully and evenhandedly."22

Liberals and conservatives actually move further apart when they read about research on whether the death penalty deters crime, or when they rate the quality of arguments made by candidates in a presidential debate, or when they evaluate arguments about affirmative action or gun control.39