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The Art of Debate cover art

The Art of Debate

By: Jarrod Atchison, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Jarrod Atchison
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Summary

If you're like many people, you might associate debate with a high school or college club, or perhaps a TV political debate that features two or more candidates talking over each other. But if these are your only associations with debating, you're missing out on an exhilarating intellectual pursuit that can help you in all aspects of your daily life. The ability to debate - to present persuasive arguments, pierce the logic of others, and turn the tables against withering cross-examinations - is one of the truest tests of one's intellectual capacity.

The Art of Debate offers you the ultimate how-to guide for anyone interested in learning this powerful skill. Taught by acclaimed Professor Jarrod Atchison of Wake Forest University, these 24 stimulating lectures will help you develop your command of logic, construct clear and concise arguments, recognize the fallacies in others' reasoning, and sharpen your strategic thinking skills. Through a series of well-structured lectures that proceed logically through each formal element of a debate, Professor Atchison shows you how to build and defend an argument, sharpening your critical thinking skills so that you come away from the course well prepared for any kind of debate.

While Professor Atchison provides you an abundance of insight into the formal elements of debate, the focus of this course is on applied debating - developing skills that you can apply to the real world to help you think through complex issues and arrive at better decisions. Imagine you are a manager faced with a difficult dilemma: should you repair some of your manufacturing equipment, or invest in new equipment? What do you do?

Whether you are trying to make a tough business decision or lead a lively discussion at the dinner table, this course will elevate your strategic thinking, providing insight not only into how to win arguments, but how to present ideas more generally.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2017 The Great Courses

What listeners say about The Art of Debate

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It's likely my preference, but....

I've just finished the first section, and I'm dreading the next. Atchison's speaking style feels like the beat of a snare drum. Punchy, sometimes forced, the energy is both monotonous and makes me flinchy. Every sentence has the same pace, and cadences are identical throughout. There is very little pitch variation. Almost all of the ends of sentences are rushed and clipped, like an old Chinese opera cadence, except every 1.5 seconds or so. I also find the Midwest accent annoying (IH is not a pretty vowel, and it's a sloppy one), but I could easily overlook that with some sort of variance in the rhythm or pitch. I might just have to crack out some Bradbury for commiseration.

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Interesting, but far too cheesy and american.

The lectures were interesting and could be of some use, but the entire time listening I felt like I couldn't really take this guy seriously. He seems to think that debate is the best thing a person can do.

The music between chapters is hilarious and cheesy.

The examples are very "American" (i.e. guns), but I guess they're examples so it doesn't matter too much.

The presenter uses technical debate language without much definition or introduction of it, so you can often be left wondering "what does that word mean again?" as he rattles off a couple of sentences using it.

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Useful but more advanced than expected

I thought it'd be simple but this book is a little bit hard to follow for me.

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worth a Credit!!

loved the course despite it not being what I expected it to be.
lecture interesting and useful in a broad range of situations.

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