Guinto, Josiah Vonn Gabrielle A.

Argumentation and Debate

BPA 2-2 Prof. Christine Burgos

The Argument Chain

The premise of the first learning material states that critical thinking is the ability to think
in an organized and rational matter to make connections between ideas or facts. With this in mind,
I am very most glad that our professor linked us to a debating book that I was able to read and
basically deepened my understanding of critical thinking. In this reflection paper, I aim to discuss
a fundamental of debating: the Anatomy of an Argument.
Effective critical thinking is an essential skill that everyone should learn in debating, but if
one does not know how to properly construct or deconstruct arguments, having the skill alone
would be pointless. There are three components of an argument: the idea, analysis, and evidence.
The Idea is basically referring to the proposition that you are trying to prove, in a debate, you want
the people to believe that what you’re trying to say is true. And the way to do that is with some
Analysis of why the idea is likely to be true.
I have learned that it is important for a debater to focus first on having the RIGHT IDEAS
about what your side needs to argue, then spend time coming up with a smart analysis to make
it sound REASONABLE, only then you think of EVIDENCE or EXAMPLES. Each one of the
components manifests the importance of critical thinking. In other words, the delivery of an
argument should consist of well-thought ideas, analysis, and evidence.
But it is noteworthy that even in well-constructed arguments, each part is still open to
rebuttal. And the art of rebuttal is where critical thinking is most crucial. Let us now deconstruct
the argument chain one by one in the context of rebuttal. Firstly, the Evidence, it is the weakest
link in the argument chain, for the simple reason that evidence presented can always be easily
disputed. Next, we move the notch one bit higher, by aiming at the Analysis of an argument. It is
more difficult, but if one is able to demonstrate that the analysis presented is ILLOGICAL or based
on FALSE ASSUMPTIONS, it damages the credibility of the whole argument. And finally,
attacking the Idea, this is the most challenging approach to rebuttal because arguments usually
are presented with a reasonable idea, but if one manages to do it, it’s basically a fatal blow to the
argument.
All of which I have briefly discussed is just the tip of the iceberg when applying critical
thinking to the actual principles of debating. Which is why I am very much excited in learning more
about this subject matter. Especially with the guidance of our professor, I believe that after this
semester, the class would be honed to be better critical thinkers, and could hopefully use it to be
of service to our nation.