The truth is always somewhere nearby. It remains only to master the art of finding it. There are no ready-made algorithms for perfect communication. But in order to defend one’s position, convince others and convince oneself, and to save face in difficult situations, it is necessary to know about some elementary principles of dispute settlement.
- Not every situation in which contradictions or misunderstandings between people are ready to leave the peaceful channel should be brought to a dispute. If there is an opportunity to come to an agreement without it, it is better to use it. At times you can meet people who are ready to argue for every opportunity, and sometimes they are even proud of it. The value of the dispute lies not in itself as such, but in its ability to help achieve certain goals. The dispute is of particular importance in scientific research, and avoiding the dispute in such situations is dangerous. Since science has always been based and developed on a critical attitude to new ideas.
- Any competent dispute should have its own subject and its own theme. It is better to designate them at the very beginning of the discussion so as not to lose the semantic thread of the dispute in the future.
- Throughout the dispute, the topic should not be changed in any way or replaced by another. At the beginning of the dispute, the topic is not absolutely clear, therefore, the controversial need to clarify and concretize their positions. But at the same time, the main line of the dispute must be constantly recognized. Many disputes result in their participants becoming even more convinced that they are right. Nevertheless, it is still worth arguing: the main thing is to clarify the situation.
- It makes sense to argue when the opinions of the disputing parties are fundamentally different. If such a difference is not revealed, then there is simply nothing more to argue about: the participants in the discussion talk about different but complementary aspects of the same problem.
- The positions of the disputing parties must have a certain commonality, a common basis for them. In order to better understand each other, the disputing parties must base their statements on the basis of the general assumptions established by axioms, uncontested ideas, otherwise it will not be possible to seriously agree on anything.
- For a productive dispute, you need to know about the elementary laws of logic. This means that arguing people must be able to correctly draw conclusions from their and others' statements, find contradictions, be logical and consistent in the dispute. But jokes, deviations from the topic, too, may be appropriate in discussion, debate.
- The parties to the dispute should be clearly aware of what they are saying and recognize the limits of their own competence. In order to confidently and boldly make some statements, you need to have a decent store of knowledge. But at the same time, he should be critical of his knowledge and not sin with his self-confidence.
- In a dispute, you must always strive to achieve truth - this is one of the most significant requirements for a dispute. If we consider the dispute as an honest discussion of a problematic issue, we will inevitably establish the correct guidelines in the dispute - to fix the truth or clarify the meaning of ideas and facts to a certain extent.
- During a dispute, it is necessary to show flexibility in thinking. The dispute is attractive because the situation in it is constantly changing: new arguments arise, previously unknown facts are discovered, the positions of the participants are adjusted. And all this must be timely and properly responded.
- For a confident discussion of the question, it is necessary to avoid mistakes and gross blunders in the strategy and tactics of the dispute. Without having developed an optimal strategy and thought out the tactics of dispute resolution, it is difficult to achieve the desired result. Failures in such a situation can negate all the efforts of the arguing side and cloud the already unexplained problem.
- You should not be afraid to admit your mistakes throughout the dispute. It is difficult to always be right in everything. The dispute is no exception. Having convinced himself of his erroneous views and ideas, a person should boldly and openly admit it and correct his or her attitudes completely. After all, the main value of the dispute is precisely to make some contribution to the development of the problem under discussion.
- "Logic", A.A. Ivin, 2013
- "Logical reference dictionary", N.I. Kondakov, 1975