Difference between revisions of "Address the content"
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(Created page with "<hide> page type::article thing type::guideline thing type::phrase </hide> ==About== In debate, a request to "address the content" or "[[address the substa...") |
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Revision as of 16:51, 4 November 2013
About
In debate, a request to "address the content" or "address the substance" is in order whenever a debater has attacked an argument in a way that does not actually address that argument.
A number of frequently-used rhetorical deceptions and logical fallacies have this effect, including the following:
- acorn tossing -- making random provocative statements in order to throw the discussion off track
- ad hominem -- attacking the speaker rather than what the speaker said (the content)
- appeal to calmness -- focusing attention on a claim that the speaker is upset, rather than addressing what they said
- argument by contradiction -- reasserting one's own position without substantiation
- dismissive statement -- negating the speaker's argument without addressing it
- straw man -- attacking a position associated with the speaker's position but which is not currently under discussion
- topic shifting and other forms of changing the subject