Business and Technical Writing Activities

Chapter

.1.

Polite and fair arguments vs. disrespectful

arguments

By: Zina Mahdi Herzallah

ID NO. :

220151847

Dr. Wasim Al-Habil

2016-2017

Question: Why might a polite and fair

argument be more successful than an angry
disrespectful one?
According to French philosopher Andre Comte-Sponville, morality starts
at the bottom with politeness. But it has to start somewhere. The
point is that we are not born virtuous, we have learn to be so and practising
politeness is one of the ways to develop a robust code of ethics to guide us
through life. But practising politeness in the real world is not as easy as it used
to be. Researchers have found that society is becoming increasingly polarized
along ideological lines and polite disagreement is an increasingly rare
phenomena.
Although having a rant might feel good at the time, research has shown
that anger is negatively reinforcing behaviour and tends to make us more
entrenched in our own belief systems. Angry confrontations are rarely a
positive experience for anyone involved. This is why politeness can go a long
way you dont have to scream, rant and go for the jugular. Politeness allows
you to pay attention, express empathy and respect the feelings of other people.
Its so common nowadays, in both the media and real life, to conflate the
actual person with the issue thats being debated. The two should not be
confused. An argument is just an immaterial construct. A person on the other
hand, is a fellow human entitled to dignity and respect, even if you disagree
with something they happen to be saying or thinking. Aristotle, the father of
logic, recognized that attacking your debate partner and not their point of view
is a logical fallacy, a flawed form of argumentation.
If you attack someone personally, you have not only violated all the rules
of polite disagreement, you have also lost the debate.
In a society that downplays cooperation and encourages winning, often at
any cost, losing an argument signifies failure. But the very act of having a polite
disagreement with someone is a victory in itself. Its nice if you can persuade
someone, but its not about beating them over the head with your point. The
goal of polite disagreement is to understand the issue at a deeper level and
ideally, if possible, to end up on the same page. If that isnt possible, just agree
to disagree about the issue at hand and move on.
Since the current decline in civil debate makes it even more important to
examine our own viewpoints and the way we handle disagreements. To better
facilitate understanding, and to grow as individuals, disagreement must be
handled in a mutually respectful way, free from anger and unbridled emotions.