Critical theory is radicalizing high school debate
I think this an attempt to champion the idea of rhetoric as a virtue, in the face of arguments made in bad faith. I have a soft spot for this. My grandfather, before he fled Belarus, was trained at a yeshiva and on his way to becoming a rabbi. His explanation of the training was ... Jedi-like, to my young mind. Students were paired off and given a biblical passage to examine, say, Jonah and the whale. One student would have to defend Jonah while the other defended, basically, God. After ten minutes, the teacher would say &quot;switch&quot; and they would have to defend the opposite side with equal logic and vigor. This was the making of a mind. Any shortcuts to rhetorical passion might be allowed, but learning to parry them and see through them was what was truly valued... well and beyond the ability to convince others (and certainly beyond obedience or conformity). Not surprising that my family in the US became lawyers.<p>This is not to say that there&#x27;s anything wrong - morally or rhetorically - with breaking the game if you don&#x27;t like the choices. There&#x27;s no unfair play when the point is to win a debate. Debates are not won by changing your opponent&#x27;s mind - I mean, who cares? They&#x27;re won by convincing whoever else is listening. That being said, failing to take the unlikeable part of a debate is <i>read as cheating</i> - if not to the judges, who may share your bias, then to the audience who you&#x27;ve alienated and failed to convince. And so it can and should fail in the long run, as an impurity in the art.