China Debate Education Network
Ethical Considerations and
Debate
Debate as an
Alternative to Violence
• All animals, including human animals, have a variety of ways to
resolve differences.
• Human animals use violent and non-violent means to resolve
differences.
• Only human animals can use argumentation and debate to resolve
differences non-violently.
– USA and USSR negotiated about Cuba and Turkey
– Six party talks to prevent outbreak of war in Korea
– George McGovern & Mark Hatfield argued to end the American
war in Vietnam
• All things being equal, non-violence is more ethical than violence.
Ethics: Preliminary Considerations
• Ethical considerations are separable from
matters of effectiveness
• Ethics is a matter of individual action as well
as social tradition
• Ethics operates in the realm of “more or less”
rather than on the basis of “yes or no.”
Dimensions of Ethics Relevant to
Debate: Four Considerations
• First, respect the process of debate
– We must respect the process of argument.
– We must not attempt to co-opt the debate
process by using strategies and tactics antithetical
to debate
– Debaters agree to an ethic of open and honest use
of evidence
– Debaters agree not to knowingly use fallacious
reasoning even when it is more effective
Dimensions of Ethics Relevant to
Debate: Four Considerations
• Second, respect those with whom we debate.
– Opponents are persons to be respected, not
objects to be overcome
– Opponents are not our “enemy,” they are partners
in search of better ideas.
– Ethical debaters do not stoop to personal attacks
and name calling.
Dimensions of Ethics Relevant to
Debate: Four Considerations
• Third, respect the adjudicators of debate.
– The adjudicator is there because disagreements
could not be resolved internally.
– Respecting the adjudicator does not automatically
mean that we believe the decision is correct.
– Decisions of the adjudicator can be appealed, but
only through proper channels.
– Ethics demands, at minimum, respect for the
adjudicator as a person.
Dimensions of Ethics Relevant to
Debate: Four Considerations
• Fourth, respect the outcome of the debate.
– That we have agreed to the process of debate
means that we must respect the entire process
and the outcome is a part of that process.
– Ethical debaters respect the outcome of the
debate even when they disagree with that
outcome.