Lincoln Douglas Debate

A Crash CourseOr

How not to crash and burn in 45 minutes!

Step 1: Understand the Resolution

• Enter the current resolution:

• “Resolved: The actions of corporations

• ought to be held to the same moral standards as the actions of individuals.”

• Define the underlined terms from a regular dictionary and a Black’s Law Dictionary.

Define the terms of the resolution.(save for future reference)

• __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What does the resolution mean?

• Write down your understanding of the resolution. Use an example to support your idea.

• ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Step 2: What is the goal of the resolution?

• What value does this resolution care about?

• Justice• Equality• Individualism• Pursuit of Happiness• Morality• Duty• Law & order

The Value or Value Premise

• The structural element that identifies what you believe the goal of the resolution should be.

• Example,– “Capital punishment is justified.”– Value choice: justice– Why? Because the criminal justice system

should ensure that criminals are punished proportionally for the crime that they have committed. This only fair. (save this for later)

Prepare Your Value

• Write your Value. ___________________• Define it.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Why did you choose it? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 3: The Criterion or Standard

• The criterion should act like a test on the resolution. Must be unbiased and supported with evidence.

• Criterion comes in two forms:– The statement – “the protection of rights”– Concept- “rights”– Both must be explained

“Relationship Example”

• What do we value in a relationship?– Loyalty– Monogamy– Trust– Love– Friendship– Attentiveness

“Relationship Example”

• How do we know when we have achieved the ultimate value of love?– Significant other’s actions– Can’t imagine life without our significant other.– Willingness to sacrifice everything– Willingness to standby that person in times of

trouble.

“Relationship Example”

• So we know that in order to achieve love we test our relationships by observing actions, making sacrifices, and being true to each other in times of trouble. This is the criteria for a loving relationship. Sound

familiar- the wedding vows then becomes our criteria. NOW, lets go back to the topic.

How to decide on a criterion.

• The criterion has to relate to many aspects of the debate:– Resolution– The agent of action– The action being taken– The side of the resolution you are defending– The arguments made in your case.– Then try to find the unifying theme or concept

that relates all of your arguments together.

The agent

• The who or what in a resolution-– Capital punishment is justified.– Agent?– Action?– Current topic: “The actions of corporations

ought to be held to the same moral standards as the actions of individuals.

– Agent: ?

The Action

• What is suggested to be done?

• Current topic: held to the same moral standards as the actions of individuals.

• Practice: justify capital punishment.

Current Topic: Selection process

• Understand the topic- define terms etc.• “Resolved: the actions of corporations ought to

be held to the same moral standards as the actions of individuals.”

• Develop questions from the topic, for example,• What are corporations?• What is meant by moral standards?• What are the standards for individuals?• Are all moral standards the same?• Why do corporations need moral standards?• What affect would holding corporations accountable have on

society?

Current Topic: Selection process

• Determine the issues.– All moral standards are/ are not the same.– Universal moral standards are/ are not feasible.– Corporations should/should not be considered

individuals.– Corporations can/cannot be held accountable by

individual standards.– There is/ is not a need for moral standards in

business.– Moral standards will/will not change business

practices.– Standards will/will not be detrimental to the economic

success of businesses.

Current Topic: Selection process

• Look for a recurring theme.– Moral standards– Utility– Ethical relativism– Justice– Any other suggestions?

Once you have chosen a criterion, define it and explain its importance to the debate.

Revisit Questions and Issues

• Review the questions and issues pages.• In a logical manner, create the contentions for

your case, starting with the affirmative.– Background of the issue at hand– Value and how it applies to the issue. What would

happen if the value was not upheld. (tie to topic)– Criterion and its importance as a test of the value

premise. Show its superiority.(tie to topic)SUPPORT EACH ONE OF THESE WITH EXPERT

TESTIMONY, FACTS, ILLUSTRATIONS, EXAMPLES ETC.

Example Contentions

• II. Body– A. Historically, corporations have been

linked to corrupt behavior.• 1. Corporations have been linked to

human rights violations.• 2. Corporations have been linked to

shady business practices.• 3. Corporations have been linked to

actions that are detrimental to the environment and society in general.

Example Contentions

• B. Due to corrupt business practices, corporations should be held to the same moral standards as the individual.

1. Legally a corporation is considered a juristic person.a. As a juristic person they are considered

an individual and thus required to follow all moral standards.2. Moral standards are required in order to attain justice.

a. Justice is the most important value.b. Without justice moral standards cannot

be upheld.c. Without justice, corporations cannot be

held to the moral standards of the individual.

Example Contentions

• C. In order to assure that corporations adhere to fair treatment practices by individual moral standards, the best test would be rule utilitarianism.– Rule utilitarianism requires one to make decisions

based upon a set of standards in order to achieve the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of people.

– Rule utilitarianism is the best choice to promote justice.

– By achieving justice, corporations will be held accountable for its behavior based upon individual moral standards.

Reminder

• You have six minutes for the constructive speech, so there is plenty of time to:– 1. Support each contention with definitions,

examples, quotes from philosopher, etc.( use your topic handbook for this)

– 2. Explain your thinking.– 3. Extend your arguments.– 4. Be detailed as possible.

Conclusion

• Using your taglines and supporting tags create a summary of the information.

• End with a request for an aff. Or neg ballot.

• Open for cross examination.

Write the speech

• Following the guidelines, write your speech.

• Should be at least 5 paragraphs with supporting materials.

• Should include the introduction, body, and conclusion.

Aff. Strategies

• Offer an observation. “whoever best proves that a corporation is/is not an individual should win this debate.”

• Use second best evidence in the constructive and use the best evidence for extending arguments.

• Never open new arguments in the rebuttal.• Prepare cx questions ahead of time.

Writing the Negative Case

• The negative case is written in the same way as the affirmative except:

• You negate the resolution– Example– This is why I negate the resolution that……

• You do not include definition of terms unless you want to offer a better definition of a word (s).