What we’re about
We founded this club to partake in the free exchange of ideas. We believe grappling with complex topics is a pre-requisite to any free society. At its simplest, debate allows us to put our ideas into eloquent words, and use those words to persuade others, by that ancient nifty art of Rhetoric. Words produce the methods by which culture is maintained or transformed; Rhetoric shapes nations, builds character, and charges civic life.
The ancient Greeks of course were the first to teach rhetoric, as a foundation of both civic life and democracy itself. They believed every citizen should hone that skill, to be a contributing citizen of the republic.
Rhetoric was viewed as a civic art by Greek philosophers. In Antidosis, Isocrates says: “We have come together and founded cities and made laws and invented arts; and, generally speaking, there is no institution devised by man which the power of speech has not helped us to establish." Debate flourishes in democratic societies and as Athenian democracy ebbed, so did debate traditions, for centuries.
Debate and the art of rhetoric underwent renewal in the wake of the U.S and French revolutions. The rhetorical studies of ancient Greece and Rome were resurrected as speakers and teachers looked to Cicero and others to inspire defenses of the new republics. From ancient Athens to the late 19th century, rhetoric played a central role in training orators, lawyers, counsellors, historians, statesmen and poets.
Today, much of social strife and political instability are the byproduct of a society that is debate-averse. Debate today has a negative connotation; it is a synonym for argument; conflict; discord.
We view debate as a sport. In a game of tennis you want to play against a formidable opponent who matches your proficiency and stamina, so that you exercise your muscles and sharpens your skills. You don’t wanta tennis partner who can’t play: there is no satisfaction or skill in beating a novice, nor is there any point in playing with a partner who insists on standing on your side of the court. To play tennis, someone has to stand on the opposite side of the tennis net. A good match is one where the tennis ball travels back and forth. As with tennis, so it is with debate.
Each debate the will have a motion - some philosophical or ethical question derived from contemporary affairs - and one team will defend the motion while the other team attacks it. The debate is judged on the quality of the arguments, the strength of the rhetoric, the charisma of the speaker, the quality of the humor, and the ability to think on one's feet.
Finally, we believe debates needn’t be rancorous, but rather witty, fun and a jolly good time!
