Often, composition teachers present public debate as if it occurs on a rhetorically level playing field, with victory going to the person who argues most logically. Real-world contestants are seldom so equal in power. We can enrich our pedagogy by studying such encounters; example: the 1263 disputation at Barcelona between Rabbi Nachmanides and…

In this article, the author demonstrated how recent histories relied primarily on previous accounts and one textbook to characterize George Pierce Baker's work. This narrow assessment of "The Principles of Argumentation" limits one's understanding of his contribution to argumentation theory and pedagogy. Similarly, one has seen the need for care…

Examines three strategies by which competitive debaters generate and organize their affirmative cases. Discusses how the persuasive writer can use these same three strategies as heuristics for deliberative discourse and as models for its organization. (HTH)

The article contends that previous scholars have misread George Pierce Baker's efforts by focusing primarily on "The Principles of Argumentation" and the role of logic. Baker's view of logic was more complex than scholars have claimed. He challenged traditional concepts of formal logic, highlighting only those aspects that would help students…