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.