[net.politics] Debating Tactics

esk@wucs.UUCP (Eric Kaylor) (09/28/84)

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> It would be a great service if some knowledgable person would compile and 
> post a fairly comprehensive list of other such bad debating tactics.  "The 
> Big Lie", "Proof by Repetition", "Ad Homien"[sic - Hominem], various logical
> fallacies, etc.  Unfortunately, most people on this net (myself included) 
> seem to suffer from an insufficiently liberal education to be very familiar 
> with such things.  Please educate us, rather than exploiting our 
> ignorance! :-)  --Tom Craver	hou5a!trc

Actually, there is something that fills this bill pretty well:  an essay 
called "The Ethics of Controversy".  I don't remember the author, but I
think the book was called *The Ethics of Controversy and other essays*, which
should make it easy to find.  "Always address your opponent's arguments
*before* impugning his character. ..."

			--Your loyal opposition, the aspiring iconoclast,
			Paul V Torek, ihnp4!wucs!wucec1!pvt1047
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