38 Ways To Win An Argument | Page 4

sid e fo r th e m om en t.
Y ou ca n eit her tr y to p rov e you r orig in al propo siti on, as in #1 4, m ain ta in th at you r orig in al propo siti on
i s prov ed by what you r oppon en t acc ep te d.
F or th is an ex tr e m e deg re e of im pud en ce is re qu ir e d, bu t exp erie n ce sho ws case s of it su cce ed in g.
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W hen you r oppon en t pu ts fo rth a propo sit ion, find it i ncon sis te n t w ith h is or her oth er sta te m en ts ,
b eli efs , actio ns or lac k o f ac tion.
E xam ple : S hou ld you r oppon en t defe nd su ic id e, you may at on ce ex cla im , "W hy don' t you h ang
you rs e lf ? "
S hou ld th e oppon en t m ain ta in th at his city is an unp le asa n t pla ce to live, you may sa y, "W hy don' t you
l e av e on th e fir s t pla n e? "
P
ag e 2 o f 5 s
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If you r oppon en t pre ss e s you with a c oun te r- proo f, you will ofte n b e ab le to sa v e you rs e lf by
a dv an cing so m e sub tl e dis ti ncti on.
T ry to find a se cond mea n ing o r an am biguou s sen se fo r you r oppon en t's id ea .
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If you r oppon en t has ta k en up a line of argu men t th at w ill end in you r defe at, you must no t allo w
h im t o ca rr y it t o its con clu sion.
I n te rr up t th e dis pu te , b re a k it off alt og eth er, o r le a d th e oppon en t to a dif fe re n t sub jec t.
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S hou ld you r opp onen t exp re ss ly ch all eng e you to p rodu ce any ob je cti on to so m e defin it e po in t i n
h is argu men t, and yo u hav e no th ing to sa y, tr y to m ak e th e a rgu men t l ess s pec if ic .
E xam ple : If you are ask ed why a parti c u la r hypo th esis ca nno t be acc ep te d, you may sp eak o f th e
f a lli bilit y o f hu man kno wle dg e, and g iv e vario us ill ustr a ti on s of it.
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If you r oppon en t has ad m itt ed to all or