The Open Debating Society

46 Conversations


Welcome to the Open Debating Society, the place to be for reasoned, articulate debate!


Feel free to jump into any of our current debates. Or, you may start a new one, by creating a new forum with the question up for debate as the topic.

Discussions relating to the function of the society and new memberships take place here.

Debating Do's and Do Nots

Do

  1. Let us know when what you are stating is a personal opinion. For opinions, say, "in my opinion," "I don't believe," "I feel that," or some similar indicator.
  2. Respect the opinions of others. They are just as entitled to their opinions as you are to yours.
  3. Support your facts with resources from the internet. That way, we can discuss the context. Also, if you are stating the opinion of a subject matter expert, give us a source for that.
  4. Qualify your generalizations, by saying "generally," or "in general." There are exceptions to every rule... and you're probably talking to one.
  5. Familiarize yourself with the basic logical fallacies. Knowing them can help you avoid them in your arguments, and help you identify the flaws in an opponent's reasoning.

Do Not

  1. Violate House Rules, which goes without saying.
  2. Get personal. Ad hominem attacks are a logical fallacy, and bad form besides. You likely know very little about the person you are attacking, so any such attacks would say more about you than about your target.
  3. Repeat yourself excessively. Once a conversation goes circular, you've identified the core difference in the debate. It's best to either take the conversation into a different direction, or just agree to disagree.
  4. Give us a link to a 500-page article and expect us to digest and discuss its ramifications on the conversation. Try to link to succinct sources, when possible. If lengthy sources are needed, then please give us a summary of what it says, and/or give us directions to the relevant bits, or quote the relevant bits. Anyone interested enough to read the whole thing can do so if they choose.
Members


Join the Open Debating Society by reporting to this forum, with your political/religious/philosophical affiliations. Membership is not required to participate in the debates.

U49720: Libertarian/atheist/secular humanist

U148120: Left-liberal/atheist

U180644: /agnostic/

U181271: Libertarian leftist/secular agnostic/humanist

U172039: Socialist/atheist/scientist-humanist

U131178: Greenish left/pantheist/composite (pick and choose)

U225307: Left liberal-Scottish Nationalist/atheist/humanist

U35376: Conservative-Republican/atheist/lawful neutral

U201118: Inconsistant/rationalist atheist/skeptical-scientist-humanist

U138596: Left/non-believing Anglican/determinist

U219274: Left of Socialism/Soliptic Agnostic Pedant/Quantum Mechanic Erisian

U195809 - Left-liberal/none/Post-Kantian

U201116 - Left-leaning independantism/atheism-logical positivism/skepticalism-secular humanism

U187177 - Liberal/agnostic-atheist/rationalist

U153452 - Democratic left anarchist/atheist/Modern pragmatist

U230205 - Right-wing Libertarian/Atheist/Skeptical Rationalist

U173458 - Socialist/Athiest

U229571 - Ex-Green/atheist/critical rationalist

U221544 - Centre left-ish/non-denominational theist/fence-sitter

U211544 - Democrat

U192726 - Centrist/christian/christian individualism

U182089 - Liberal left/theist humanist/

U200838 - /agnostic-atheist/Humanist determinist

U201919 - Left-libertarian/pantheist/Zen-Jungian

U234848 - Highly Inconsistant/Recreational Agnostic
/Inverted or Exterior Solipsist

U201497 - Republican/atheist/?

U237011 - Freedomist-Fronteerist/Conspiritorialist Primist/Pedantic Skeptic

U206637 - Moderate Democrat/Unitarian Universalist/Humanist

U104826 - Liberal Democrat/Christian/

U209724 -

U155915 - Independent(Democrat)/jedi/skeptic

U48588 - Socialist/pagan

U200618 - /Christian/cynic


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