CHAPTER 10: REFUTATION
Learning to refute is difficult for many students. It is the essence of that commonly praised but
complicated attribute called “thinking on your feet.” The project on p. 173 is a good activity for
inexperienced students. It can be made more challenging by having students select a controversial issue
from current events and then conduct an Internet search on that issue. They will find position papers from
a variety of sources and points of view. They will be able to see for themselves how the various factions
refute each other, and they can then draft their own refutations. This can culminate in an in-class debate
during which students can present their own positions and critically respond to others. The same activity
can be assigned to teams to do outside of class. If teams come to consensus, they can send their responses
to appropriate web-sites to take issue with partisans who operate them, or they can submit letters to the
editors of local newspapers to critique positions editorialists have taken.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Refutation is often difficult to express because of our culture’s preference for
2. Benjamin Franklin discovered that powerful refutation of others’ beliefs
3. The former championship college debaters discussed in the text report that refutation
4. Often, the most effective refutation is
5. In most business settings, professional interactions, and even government sessions,
6. When the decision makers are well informed and will be exposed to counterargument, refutation
probably
should be
7. The problem with trying to talk a police officer out of a ticket is
8. The general theory of refutation is to
9. Framebreaking or double-loop learning, when applied to refutation, suggests a process in which you
10. No matter what point you are addressing, always relate your refutation to
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. What are the points that can be used to argue that refutation is a constructive, not a destructive,
EXERCISES/PROJECTS
1. Identify an issue of interest to you, and then do an Internet search for position papers related to the
2. Prepare to present your refutation to other members of your team after giving each of them a copy of
3. Have a discussion within your team or in class about your refutation. Discuss with others where your
4. Go back to the Internet and locate a position paper that takes a position other than the one you used for
5. Select a newspaper editorial with which you disagree. Prepare a refutation of it with the aim of