Debate as a Paradigm for Demonstrating Skills in Argumentation and Logic.

This paper argues that the judge who uses argumentation and logic as the sole criteria for determining the winner of an academic debate sees debate as an intellectual contest with speech being only an incidental element. A paradigm for judging is presented and discussed in terms of the following core concepts: analysis, investigation, evidence, reasoning, refutation, and rebuttal. Analysis is the arriving at an understanding of the proposition and the discovering of the inherent issues. Investigation is the process of accumulating information about a proposition. Evidence is an informative statement believed by the listener and employed by an arguer to secure belief in another statement. Reasoning is the process by which we infer a conclusion from premises. Refutation is the attempted destruction of the opponent's argument. Rebuttal is the attempted rebuilding of an argument once it has been attacked. It is concluded that this paradigm is an excellent one for judging an academic debate. (TS)