Student representative: Our university, in expelling a student who verbally harassed his roommate, has erred by penalizing the student for doing what he surely has a right to do: speak his mind! Dean of students: But what you' re saying is that our university should endorse verbal harassment. Yet surely if we did that, we would threaten the free flow of ideas that is the essence of university life. Which one of the following is a questionable technique that the dean of students uses in attempting to refute the student representative?
A: relying on a position of power to silence the opposing viewpoint with a threat
B: questioning the motives of the student representative rather than offering reasons for the conclusion defended
C: misdescribing the student representative's position, thereby making it easier to challenge
D: invoking a fallacious distinction between speech and other sorts of behavior
Choose A, B, C or D as your solution.
C