What is the Point of a Rational Discussion?
How do you have a rational discussion?
What are some necessary conditions of rational discussion?
Here are some answers:
Goals of a Rational Discussion: Not winning, but cooperatively getting to the truth.Means: Argument construction, weighing of premises, logical validity, testing conclusions against the rest of our knowledge
Necessary Conditions: Logical axioms, minimal real contact with reality beyond the world, goodwill towards your dialectical opponent (the person you’re talking to).
Less Systematically: You can’t reason well if…
- If you don’t want truth first, and winning second
2. If you can’t discerner between emotions and reasoning,
3. If you efuse to admit that you might be wrong,
4. If you don’t believe that you’re in a cooperative enterprise,
5. If you don’t respect the results of reasoning (otherwise, reasoning has no authority)
For additional resources check out my other articles here:
- The Statist Fallacy:
- Provisional How-to for Voting (without being a lemming)
- Learn your fallacies, and save the world! (Yes, this is hyperbole, but there is something to it)
- How to Refute an Argument (and how not to)
For similar articles, check out these resources:
For courses to help develop your logic skills:
Check out this Introduction to Logic course at Liberty Classroom.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Steve Byerly
I am a philosopher that is interested in what makes life worth living, what is worth pursuing, and how we can learn from the past. I believe that good philosophy benefits everyone and that there should be philosophers that present philosophy to those outside of the academy.
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