Address the content
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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)
- tone-policing – 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