1. Argument-2

2. conversational disagreement
Argument2
One sense of the word “argument”
(the most common usage)
refers to a process of
conversational disagreement
which occurs in a
particular context.

3. Argument2
This sense of “arguing” is most often expressed as an experience that people have. For example:
“Armando and Beyonce had an intense argument.”

4. in arguing is something that many of us
Argument2
The peril and promise
in arguing is something that many of us
understand well

5. Joel: “I’m too scared to argue” Julia: “Well I’m too scared
Argument2
Consider this exchange from a 2015 episode of the NBC series Parenthood:
Joel: “I’m too scared to argue”
Julia: “Well I’m too scared
not to argue”

6. Argument2
Sometimes
people
disagree.

7. Argument2

8. The key question is: How do we deal
Argument2
The key question is: How do we deal
with disagreement?

9. is to competitively escalate it.
Argument2
One option
is to competitively escalate it.

11. Argument2

12. A competitive approach seeks a win/lose result—
Argument2
A competitive approach seeks a win/lose result—
but often ends with
lose-lose outcomes.

13. Argument2

14. Argument2

15. Another way of dealing with disagreement is avoidance—
Argument2
Another way of dealing
with disagreement
is avoidance—
walking away from it.

16. Argument2
Sometimes,
people choose to
“agree to disagree.”

17. Argument2

18. It must be admitted that choosing not to argue
Argument2
It must be admitted that choosing not to argue
sometimes seems the best course of action.

19. open disagreement and honest argument.
Sometimes, for example,
our relationship with another seems both too valuable and too fragile to risk
open disagreement and honest argument.

20. Argument2
At other times, the person with whom we disagree does not show promise as a dialectical partner.

25. Argument2

26. In such cases, we may “agree to disagree” . . .
Argument2
In such cases, we may “agree to disagree” . . .
Whatever!

27. Argument2

28. Argument2

29. . . . but, there are consequences to
Argument2
. . . but, there are consequences to
giving up
on argument.

30. Argument2
“For the fifth year running, respondents in a national Marist poll say the most annoying word slung by American conversationalists is whatever.”
[Washington Times, December 2013]

31. we find the other hopelessly irredeemable.
Argument2
“Whatever”
(agreeing to disagree)
communicates that
we find the other hopelessly irredeemable.

32. Argument2

33. Avoidance also forfeits the benefits that
Argument2
Avoidance also forfeits the benefits that
talking it through
can often foster.

34. Argument2

35. Employers well understand this.
Argument2
Employers well understand this.
In a survey of over three hundred employers, Hart Research Associates (2013) found that “91% of employers agree that all students should have experiences in college that teach them how to solve problems with people whose views are different from their own” (p.9).

36. Learning to value disagreement, to welcome criticism, is not easy.
Argument2
Learning to
value disagreement,
to welcome criticism,
is not easy.

37. But psychological maturity requires understanding the possibility of
Argument2
But psychological maturity
requires understanding the possibility of
being wrong.

38. Argument2

39. Argument2

40. Argument2

41. Argument2

42. A refusal to embrace disagreement and serious consideration of ideas
Argument2
A refusal to embrace disagreement and serious consideration of ideas
with which we disagree
is to denounce learning, personal growth and genuine relationships.

43. Argument2

44. Argument2

45. Argument2

46. A commitment to learning and personal growth
Argument2
A commitment to learning and personal growth
also requires the
testing of our ideas
by intellectual peers.

47. Argument2

48. Argument2 - Fallibility
To embrace this challenge requires an
honest commitment to
--the possibility of
being wrong.

49. Argument2 - Fallibility
To acknowledge fallibility requires genuine
self-confidence
and creates the
courage to listen.

50. Argument2

51. Listening takes courage
Argument2
Listening takes courage
since it is more
than simple silence.
Genuine listening
is engagement.

52. Argument2

53. If empathy is the ability
Argument2
If empathy is the ability
to feel what another feels, what then is the capacity
to creatively imagine
what it means to
think as another thinks?

54. Argument2

55. Argument2

56. Argument2
To redeem the promise of learning-by-argument may require re-thinking what it means to
“lose” an argument.

57. Argument2
Too often, argument is seen in simple, binary, adversarial, us/them, zero-sum ways:
win/lose.

58. argument with integrity,
But if one embraces
argument with integrity,
then “losing” is learning and, therefore, winning.

59. Argument2

60. Argument2

61. Argument2

62. Argument2

63. Argument2

64. -Alfred Snider, Director, World Debate Institute
Argument2
“Every day when we act and do what we honestly believe is right, realizing that others should be able to show us that we might be wrong, and we come to a greater understanding together, we make a better world through our actions and also through the example we set, of making logical arguments and being willing to be persuaded by them. I have no dogma except being willing to be persuaded by your better argument.”
-Alfred Snider, Director, World Debate Institute

65. “Come, now let us reason together.”
Argument2
“Come, now let us reason together.”
-Isiah 1:18

66. Argument2

67. e.g., collaboration, negotiation and deliberation—
Argument2
Through
genuine argument—
e.g., collaboration, negotiation and deliberation—
everyone can win.

68. Argument2

69. Argument2

71. Argument2

72. Productive arguments depend on a healthy emotional climate.

73. Argument2

74. Argument2

75. Argument2

76. substantive communication practices.
Argument2
Good arguments,
therefore, depend on
substantive communication practices.

77. and creating supportive communication climates.
Argument2
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world” that it must choose between having arguments
and creating supportive communication climates.

78. Research demonstrates an
Argument2
Research demonstrates an
inverse relationship between “argumentativeness” and “verbal aggression”

79. Argument2

80. Argument2
Raise your argument
not your voice.

81. and to express that disagreement—without being disagreeable.
Argument2
It is, in fact,
possible to disagree—
and to express that disagreement—without being disagreeable.

82. Argument2

83. Argument2

84. Argument2

85. Argument2

86. Argument2
Students who participate in debates learn how to avoid verbal aggression, listen well, disagree without being disagreeable, and make better decisions.

87. Unfortunately, not every citizen has had that experience.
Argument2
Unfortunately, not every citizen has had that experience.

92. Argument2

93. Don’t be like Donald and Chris. Be like Ameena and Korey.
Argument2
Don’t be like Donald and Chris.
Be like Ameena and Korey.

94. Argument2

95. Argument2

96. Argument2

97. Argument-2