Upon reading Chapter 7, I was quickly reminded of a recent debate I watched for the California Governor’s Election. Both candidates, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown, engaged the concepts talked about in the CounterArguments chapter. During the debate each: 1) raise objections and 2) refuted the argument of the other. I didn’t realize until I read the chapter of the formal step-by-step process to breaking down the argument. As Epstein summarizes, “Objections are raised: someone put forward a claim that, if true, make one of our claims false or at least doubtful. We then have to answer that challenge to sustain our argument.” More importantly to make a strong argument, all the premises must seem obvious and must support the conclusion. I believe as Esptein, that "If you can imagine someone else objecting, you can see how to give better support for doubtful premises”.
When I decided to go back to school, I made a list of pros and cons. Because I was an older returning student I had to weigh out the benefits and concerns by playing devil’s advocate to myself. I realize that there were a few family members who might oppose my decision, so I wanted to be prepared to support my decision. As it turns out everyone was very supportive. But utilizing the process of mentally debating myself with the argument, counterargument, counter-counterargument steps allowed me to be more prepared for a debate and strengthen my argument for returning to school.
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