Notice Board

The Department of Philosophy Colloquium Series presents:

"Opposing Children: Adversarial Argumentation in Caregiver-Child Contexts"

Speaker: Anjali Bauri (University of British Columbia)
February 27, 2025
C610 (UHall), 4:30-6:00PM

Abstract: Adversarial argumentation typically involves two individuals arguing against one another. The ‘proponent’ is a person who offers arguments in support of some claim or viewpoint while the other person, the ‘opponent’, criticizes the proponent’s arguments in an attempt to refute her claims. In argumentation theory, there is widespread criticism of adversariality because adversarial argument structure can inflict certain harms on arguers and the broader argumentative context. Adversariality can escalate discussions into quarrels, or they might trigger unpleasant speech acts such as name-calling and insulting. Arguments between caregivers and children are generally understudied in the field of argumentation theory. Children are more vulnerable than adults typically are, and caregivers try their best to protect children from harm. Given the harms of adversariality, one might think that caregivers ought to avoid arguing adversarially with children. However, I will argue that caregivers should engage in adversarial argumentation with children because learning to take opposing stances seems to be a normal part of children’s development trajectory. I will also argue that caregivers should model adversarial argumentation for children because children need to learn how to argue adversarially while avoiding the common pitfalls of adversarial argumentation to be able to navigate a world that is filled with diverse opinions and increasingly polarized stances.