Republic of the Philippines

Cotabato City State Polytechnic College

Sinsuat Avenue, Cotabato City

Reporters:
Lady Mae Barneso Baby Dianne Balabaran
Rebaika Ali Rose Anne Bermejo
Maisona Abduladzis Shaira Mie Besas
Topic: Argumentation and Debate (Parliamentary)
Subject: EN 221-Speech with Public Speaking, Argumentation and Debate
Teacher: Ms. Tarhata Dumamba

Argumentation and Debate distinguished.

Argumentation is generally defined as “The act of influencing others, through the medium of
reasoned discourse, to believe or act as we wish them to believe or act. It is the process of
influencing the belief or behavior of a hearer or reader, through spoken or written speech, by
supplying him with reasons and stirring his feelings.
Debate is a formal direct oral contest in argumentation between two or more persons on a definite
proposition at a definite time. It is a formal controversy, not a mere verbal wrangling. Debate is
defined as an oral controversy on a definite question between opposing speakers (one or more on
each side) who present their contentions in the presence of each other. The two sides are the
affirmative and the negative.

The two (2) Methods of Approach in the work of Argumentation (Conviction and Persuasion)

Conviction is the appeal to reason and to the intellect and the appeal to the emotions, to the feelings,
to the will, called Persuasion.
 The purpose of the appeal to the intellect is to create belief, or intellect agreement, while the
purpose of the appeal to emotions is to stir those one desires to influence to act in the way
one wishes them to act or to lead them to a new behavior or to a new purpose, or to dissuade
them from a course of action already adopted.
Conviction, therefore, is that phase of argumentation whereby the arguer directs his words to the
reasoning faculty of man. Persuasion, on the other hand, is that phase of argumentation whereby the
disputant directs his words to the heart, to the feelings, to the sentiments, to the emotions.
“Conviction is a process that creates belief or disbelief through an appeal to reason; and Persuasion
is a process that creates belief or disbelief through an appeal to the emotions. Conviction makes the
truth clear; persuasion makes it interesting. Conviction drives one to accept the truth; persuasion
leads one to embrace it.”- A professor of argumentation and debate.
Conviction vs. Persuasion
 Is conviction alone enough in bringing about healthy and progressive human relationships?
In other words, is mere belief sufficient to promote the growth of society?
 Is persuasion alone enough in promoting healthy and progressive associations? In other
words, is an emotional behavior, is an impulsive act, conducive to happy human
relationships, which argument seeks to establish?

Relation of Argumentation to Logic

 Argumentation has been defined as an art. As an art, it teaches us what to do. In other words,
it lays down rules to be followed in presenting evidences and arguments. Logic, on the other
hand, is a science. As a science, logic investigates the processes of thinking, of inferring.
Logic determines the soundness of reasoning and teaches us what correct thinking consists
in.

Argumentation and Psychology

 Psychology is defined as the science of mental life, or consciousness, or behavior. It is also
defined as the science of the human mind or soul and its activities and capacities. It deals
with the phenomenon of human consciousness. It deals with the emotions of man and his
reactions to circumstances. It clarifies the laws of human conduct. In short, it furnishes the
arguer with the knowledge of human nature. A comprehension of human likes and dislikes,
biases and prejudices, whims and caprices, predilections and idiosyncrasies, etc. is
indispensable to the arguer.

The Processes in the Work of Argumentation

 (a) The determination of those ideas in the truth of which one would like to others to believe,
or that course of action which one would like others to adopt. This process is chiefly
concerned with the formulation of the Proposition to be discussed. It also covers the
consideration of the Burden of Proof and of the Issues. This process is called Invention.
 (b) The choosing from all sources of information of facts, data, statistics, inferences, etc. that
will help the arguer to establish the ideas in the truth of which he would like to believe, or
that course of action which he would like others to adopt. This process involves the study of
how to conduct investigation and research, the nature of evidence, the forms of arguments
and the fallacies. This process is called Selection.
 (c) The organization of the materials that have been selected in such a way as to secure
maximum effect upon the belief and behavior of the reader or hearer. This process involves
the application of the three great rhetorical principles-unity, coherence, and emphasis and the
study of the mechanism and the brief outline. This process is called Arrangement.
 (d) The putting of the materials that have been selected and organized into such effective
language as to convey the ideas to the reader or hearer with maximum force. This process
study involves the study of persuasion as a method of approach and the technique of the
introduction, of the discussion, of the conclusion, and the delivery. This process is called
Presentation.
The Role of Argumentation and Debate in Human Relations

 Argumentation is Fundamental.
Argumentation is of fundamental importance in human relationship. Argumentation is the art
whereby one creates belief of a person that determines his attitude towards men, institutions, and
principles.
 Argumentation is Universal
Man is by nature gregarious. He lives in the society of his fellows. God has given him the gift of
speech.
 Argumentation is indispensable.
Man cannot carry on the affairs of life without argumentation. As man and his society are now
constituted, life would be meaningless if he does not communicate with his fellows.
 “Debate is an art, which, through the ages, has been considered the chief means of
advancement for those who are engaged in the professions of law and politics; but to assume
on this account that it may be studied with profit only by lawyers and politicians is greatly to
underestimate its value for the ordinary layman.
 Debate is an art that develops skill in the process of influencing others to accept or reject
belief, and, since no man today is ever free from the necessity of defending his own beliefs or
of influencing others to reject or modify their beliefs, debate, as an art is not only valuable to
lawyers and politicians, but is just as valuable to all men, whatever their occupations may
chance to be.
 The study of debate is valuable; because it trains men in quick and accurate thinking; because
it develops in them the qualities of assurance and self-reliance; because it enables them to
rise to positions of leadership among their fellowmen.”
“It is noble,” said Cicero, “to excel man in that which man excels all other animals.
And Disraeli said, “With words, we govern men."

The Subject of Argumentation: The Proposition

 May a word or a team is the subject of argumentation?
 A word is a mere symbol of an idea or a conception. It denotes some general concept
existing in mind.
 A term is any word or group of words which serves to point out any imaginable subject to
discourse.
 A word or a term does not assert an act to of judgment to be affirmed or to be denied.
 A Proposition is defined as “an expression in words of an act of judgment.” and “an act of
judgment is a mental assertion of something as true or untrue,”
 A proposition is expressed in a complete statement, with a subject and a predicate. It allows
an affirmance and a denial.

Classes of Propositions
 Generally, propositions are classified into:
Proposition of Fact is one that is concerned with the truth or falsity of an act of judgment. It aims at
belief, It settles the question: Is this assertion true?”
Examples:
Resolved, That elective city mayors are more efficient than appointive ones.
Proposition of Policy is one that is concerned wisdom or unwisdom, the expediency or
inexpediency, of a course of action. It aims at action. Whoever asserts it has the duty to establish the
workable character of his plan. It answers the question: “Should it be done?” “should this course of
action be followed?”
Example:
Resolved, That the Filipino women should be disfranchised.

 Necessity of knowing the proposition.

On the part both the arguer and of the hearer, a knowledge of the proposition is essential.
 The proposition may not be formally expressed.
While in contest debates, i.e., debates held to give students training in the application of the rules of
debating, the proposition must always be expressed in the introduction, in public discussions it is not
always advisable to do so. This is especially the case when one is to address a hostile audience or to
present his views on a specific problem to readers whose prejudices and beliefs are known to be
opposed to one’s stand.

Characteristics of Propositions Good for Debate

(a) The proposition must be in a form of an assertion

The proposition should be stated in categorical, declarative, positive statement, not a question.
Negative statements should be avoided; for if the affirmative is in effect a negative and the negative
is in effect an affirmative, confusion is likely to arise.
(b) The proposition must express only one act of judgment.
There are two assertions or two courses of action or problems expressed in one proposition,
confusion will arise.
(c) The proposition must be susceptible of only one interpretation.
This requirement simply means that the words used should be clear.
(d) The proposition must be unprejudiced
In a proposition, there should be no phraseology that assumes the truth of the point to be proved.
There should not be used words of praise or of blame.
(e) The proposition should avoid abstractions and generalizations.
Care should be taken that propositions should be as concrete and as specific as possible. The
proposition should be as free as possible from vague and sweeping generalizations.
(f) The proposition must be concise and simple
All necessary words should be omitted and the words used should be omitted and the words used
should be easy to comprehend.
(g) The proposition must be debatable.
This requirement means that the act of judgment expressed in the proposition should allow sufficient
room for an intelligent difference of opinion.
(h) The proposition must be so worded that the burden of proof shall fall on the affirmative side.
The term burden of proof, is the duty of a party to the controversy to establish what he alleges,
otherwise he loses his case. This requirement simply means that whoever will take up the affirmative
side of the question must be the party who is dissatisfied with the present order of things and,
therefore, demands a change in the existing situation.
(i) The proposition must be interesting.
Whether a proposition is interesting or not depends upon the education, the aptitude, the experience,
the likes and dislikes of both the speaker and the audience, and the peculiar conditions of the time
 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
 Debates are held in both houses of parliament. Member discuss Government Policy. Propose
new laws and talk about Political issues of the day. They design to assist of members of
parliament in reaching an informed decision on a subject.
 The aim is mostly to pass or reject a proposed new law or to give the houses opinion on
subject which is achieved by vote (called a Division) at the conclusion of the debate. These
debates are recorded in publication , which can be found online or in print form
Introduction
 A debate round has two teams with two debaters each and a Speaker. The Speaker serves
as both the judge and arbiter of the rules during the round. One team represents the
GOVERNMENT while the other represents the OPPOSITION.
 The Government team is composed of a Prime Minister, who speak s twice and a Member
of Government, who speaks once.
 The Opposition team is composed of a Leader of the Opposition, who speaks twice and a
Member of the Opposition, who speak once.
ORDER and TIMING of SPEECH
Speech Prime Minister Leader of Member of Member of Leader of Prime
Constructive Opposition Government Opposition Opposition Minister
(PMC) Constructive Constructive Constructive Rebuttal Rebuttal
(LOC) (MG) (MO) (LOR) (PMR)

Time 7 min. 8 min. 8 min. 8 min. 4 min. 5 min.

NEW ARGUMENTS
New Arguments can be made at any time during the first four speeches. These speeches are
called CONSTRUCTIVES. New Arguments cannot be made during rebuttals, the last two
speeches of the round. The Prime Minister can, however, respond to new opposition arguments
that were made during the MO. So the PMR may contain new responses, but not new arguments.
MOTIONS
POINTS OF INFORMATION
 During the PMC, LOC,MG,MO debates may rise to ask the debates who is speaking
question or insert a short statement.
Some debaters ask a special form of POI called point of clarification. Clarification means that
the debater does not understand the case or a particular argument. If possible, the speaker should
try to answer clarification to ensure the confusion-free debate round.
POINTS OF ORDER
 Is raised when a competitor believes that one of the rules of debate is being broken. There
are two circumstances during debate a round.
POINTS OF PRIVILEGE
 Point of personal privilege may also be used for a personal emergency.
 Note:Speakers will take into consideration extremely rude behavior without any debater
raising a point, so there is no need to do so.
CASES and RESOLUTION
Resolutions in team policy debate are always of a policy nature, usually government policy. The
affirmative team almost always defends the resolution by means of a particular example, known
as a “case” if they can show the example (case) to be true, then the general proposition is also
shown to be true.
1. A Tautology – A Tautological case is one that is immediately and logically true by
construction..
2. 2. A Truism – A Truistic case is one that no moral person could possibly disagree with.
3. 3. A Specific-knowledge case – A Specific-knowledge is one that could require the
opposition to know more about a topic than it could reasonably be expected to know.