Argumentation in Democratic Education: The Crucial Role of Values

Educators, implicitly or explicitly, are interested in truth and, therefore, in argumentation. Argumentation is defined here as an evidence-based process by which one person may convince another of the rightness of his or her point of view. One of the primary uses of argumentation is within democratic deliberation writ large and within classrooms. As a teacher of an applied philosophy course, I was interested in exploring the concept of truth through the mechanism of argumentation. In this article I explore the degree to which the model of rational argumentation reflects what actually persuades people in their political lives. How important are underlying values in the political and other positions people take? Given that schools are one of the only spaces where ideological diversity can be encountered within a supportive environment, I argue that discussions about values is a vital ingredient toward democratic life.