The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument is Sound - 2

2013-05-16T01:25:43-08:00

(Voting Period)

Resolved: The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument is Sound.

Rounds:

1. Presentation of the LCA/Initial Refutation
2. Clash
3. Weighing/Clash

No new arguments should be presented in round 3 unless in direct response to a new argument presented in round 2.

God is defined as the necessary, personal first cause of the universe.

We should rationally accept an argument as sound if the affirmation of its premises is more plausible than the negation.

The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument

Every existing thing has an explanation of its existence, either in the necessity of its own nature or in an external cause.
If the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God.
The universe is an existing thing.
Therefore the explanation of the uni

The Americans with Disabilities Act should be repealed

2013-04-26T18:34:51-08:00

(Post Voting Period)

This debate is about the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 [ADA], including changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-325). The full text of the various versions of the law are linked from the ADA's government site. [1. http://www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm] Wikipedia summarizes the law:

The ADA is a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to

The Purpose of the US Constitution is to Legislate Morality

2013-03-05T11:35:57-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
I have made this debate impossible to accept. If you are interested, just leave a comment or PM me, thank you.

I am curious to see how anyone can argue that the purpose of any law is not to legislate morality.

Resolution:

The Purpose of the US Constitution is to Legislate Morality

Definitions:

Purpose - the object toward which one strives or for which something exists; an aim or a goal

The US Constitution - the Constitution and all amendments

Legislate - make or enact laws
Politifact is a web site [1. http://www.politifact.com/] that claims to determine the truth of political statements. They are one of several sites including snopes, factcheck, and the Washington Post Factchecker that claim to sort out political truth. Politifact claims to find lies made both by Democrats and Republicans, but the question in this debate is whether they lean towards the Democrats or maintain the fact checking impartiality that they claim. I will affirm that they are biased overall in favor of Democrats. My opponent will argue that they are not biased.

"Bias" is a particular

Anime studies should be offered in American high schools

2013-03-13T12:24:09-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
Anime is an art form akin to novels or movies. The definition of anime is sometimes controversial among fans of the art form who worry if Korean or American work is really anime. For the purpose of this debate, the definition is:

anime: a colorful style of animated feature produced in Japan and reflecting themes that include traditional Japanese values or conflicts, often in a science fiction or fantasy setting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime)

This debate is not about Pokémon or Card Capture Sakura or Dragonball Z, or others in that genre. I don't have a problem with that type of anime and there are things in that genre worth studying, but it's not prime turf. Just as "literature studies" technically ought to include romance novels, it's not the prime focus. I will

Obamacare should be repealed.

2012-07-16T23:39:28-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
Obamacare is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) [1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act]. It is a is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The Act is concerned with health care in the United States. A recent Supreme Court decision upheld the Constitutionality of the legislation. [2. h

(MiG Tournament) Physical laws must conform to preconceptions of what is logical

2012-09-01T05:39:35-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
This debate is part of round 5 of Man-Is-Good's Debate Tournament.

Synopsis

RoyLatham and I just finished another tournament debate over the implications of the KCA, which you can reference here:

http://www.debate.org/debate/25114/

In this debate, we argued over whether or not something that is mathematically possible can be considered to therefore be physically possible as well. The context was over the possibility of an actual infinite.

Since Roy and I were again paired up for this tournament, Roy asked if I would be willing to instigate the resolution set before you now. He and I will share the burden of proof for our respective positions. I will be arguing that just because there exist theoretical models that work mathematically, they cannot be considered to represent actual reality if in doing so they would violat

Obama Began His Presidency With an Apology Tour

2012-11-07T15:35:38-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
I am offering this debate proposal to Roy Latham, a debater whose skills I frequently admire, before making it available to anyone else. In a recent debate, I offered a criticism of an argument that he repeated several times in the course of that contest. This argument relied on the following statement being true: “President Obama began his presidency with an apology tour.”

Obviously, I disagree, and would like to continue this discussion with Roy Latham, or perhaps RyuuKyuzo.

I will adopt the position of "Con," since I want to challenge the premise that “President Obama began his term with an apology tour.” I ask that Pro defend the premise, by demonstrating how Obama actually did embark on an "apology tour" over this timeframe.

I am willing to be fairly relaxed concerning any rules for this debate, and am willing to honor any agreements made in the comments section. My only real requests of my par

There is a biological cause to homosexuality

2012-10-23T23:28:42-08:00
(Post Voting Period) Resolution: homosexuality is mostly caused by biological factors The reason "mostly" was selected is because all behaviors have some genetic impact, even if its small. Definitions: Homosexuality - in this case, a human being sexually attracted to those of the same sex Biological - in this debate, biological will be defined as genetics ("gay-gene"), hormones (a second theory which I call the hormone hypothesis argues hormones in the womb cause SSA), and brain differences (see LeVay 1991 for details). SSA - same sex [sexual] attraction Don't change or use definitions in your argunment. Don't didley with the resolution or definitions in the debate, however you can ask for a change in the comments. Rules : Round one acceptance (contender only , I have to do all this) No semantics Drops = concession forfeits = loss /end

(MIG Tournament) Conservative Showdown #2: Gold Standard

2012-08-11T02:16:06-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
Resolved: The U.S. should implement the gold standard for its monetary system.

Definitions

Gold Standard: The system by which the value of a currency was defined in terms of gold, for which it could be exchanged.

Rules

1. No new arguments or evidence in the last round

2. Drops are not concessions, but can be evaluated

Creationism has made verified predictions.

2012-10-30T14:52:20-08:00
(Post Voting Period) I would like to use mostly the same form as used by Microsuck, because I like it. Definitions: These are the definitions that will be used throughout this debate. Theory - A well supported, conceptual framework that encompasses a large body of scientific facts, inferences, data, and observations and explains them in a coherent way (Fairbans, 2012) Predictions-In science, a prediction is a rigorous, often quantitative, statement, forecasting what will happen under specific conditions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prediction#Prediction_in_science, I do not generally use wikipedia, but it is useful in some circumstances) Scientific evidence - "Scientific theories are validated by empirical testing against physical observations. Theories are not judged simply by their logical compatibility with the available data. Independent empirical testability is the hallmark of science"in science, an explanation must not only be compatible with the observed data

Libertarians should support Romney

2012-07-09T13:13:44-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
This debate is whether libertarians should support Mitt Romney in the upcoming U.S. presidential election rather than support a third party candidate such as Gary Johnson. Supporting President Obama is ruled out for this debate.

The right of third party candidates to run for office and of voters to vote for them is not questioned. The debate presumes that libertarians want to have libertarian views, as generally espoused by Ron Paul or Gary Johnson (per http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/front), prevail in American politics. The resolution is affirmed if supporting Romney is more likely to ultimately lead to that end than supporting a third party candidate. The resolution is negated if supporting Gary Johnson or another third party candidate is more likely to lead to libertarian beliefs prevailing.

The debate is not about whether libertarian positions are correct or incorrect. The d

The GOP are ignorant hypocrites for blaming gas prices on Obama

2012-05-22T02:18:35-08:00
(Post Voting Period) The resolution refers to a thread made by Contra in the politics forum about how hypocritical it is for Republicans to blame gas prices in Obama, shown in this thread below, http://www.debate.org/forums/politics/topic/20631/ I will argue that it is hypocritical for Republicans to blame rising gas prices on Obama and not give him some credit when they go down. Roy will argue that it is NOT hypocritical 4 rounds 1st round doesn't have to be acceptance only I will not troll or use semantics (If there's something I screwed up just comment on it and I'll fix it an resend the challenge) Let the debate begin

Waterboarding should be legal in the United States.

2012-06-11T15:05:23-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
There are a number of definitions of waterboarding. The definition of interest for this debate is the technique used by the Central Intelligence Agency to interrogate terrorists. Wikipedia quotes a CIA manual:

"In this procedure, the individual is bound securely to an inclined bench, which is approximately four feet by seven feet. The individual's feet are generally elevated. A cloth is placed over the forehead and eyes. Water is then applied to the cloth in a controlled manner. As this is done, the cloth is lowered until it covers both the nose and mouth. Once the cloth is saturated and completely covers the mouth and nose, air flow is slightly restricted for 20 to 40 seconds due to the presence of the cloth... During those 20 to 40 seconds, water is continuously applied from a height of twelve to twenty-four inches. After this period, the cloth is lifted, and the individual is allowed to breathe unimpeded for three or four full breaths... The

The Kalām Cosmolgical Argument attempts to prove very little.

2012-08-22T00:25:50-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
"The Kalām Cosmological Argument [KCA] is a variation of the cosmological argument that argues for the existence of a First Cause for the universe. Its origins can be traced to medieval Jewish, Christian and Muslim thinkers, but most directly to Islamic theologians of the Kalām tradition." [1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalam_cosmological_argument] The classical argument is:

Everything that has a beginning of its existence has a cause of its existence;

The universe has a beginning of its existence;
Therefore:

The universe has a cause of its existence.

There are modern va

U.S. Aid to Pakistan should be continued

2012-07-01T18:03:47-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
The United States has provided more than $20 billion in aid to Pakistan in recent years. Recently a move was made in the Senate to terminate aid, but the cut off was blocked. [1. http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/4fdb7ceab1e35d0936000001/bid-to-cut-off-us-aid-to-pakistan-blocked-by-harry-reid] It's an issue that cuts across Party lines, with prominent Republicans and prominent Democrats on both sides.

The resolution for this debate is that aid should not be terminated in the near future unless entirely new and unforeseen events occur. Some reduction of aid is permitted within the scope of the resolution, but not a complete termination nor a reduction to significant as to amount to a cut off.

This debate is part of the second round of MIG's Tournament. My opponent and I are in agreement on 80%

A Fetus is Not Morally Equivalent to a Mature Human

2011-06-21T04:26:06-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
Thanks to my opponent for debating an important aspect of the abortion issue.

The Resolution

In a previous debate my opponent claimed:

"The unborn entity, from the moment of concept, is a full-fledged member of the human community" http://www.debate.org/debates/Abortion-needs-to-stay-legal./1/

Due to forfeits by the other side in that debate, my opponent did not have an opportunity to defend his position. In this debate I will argue that there are differences between a fetus and a full-fledged member of the community that affect the morality of abortion, Con will defend his position that there are no such differences.

If Con is correct, then abortion should be illegal, because abortion is then proved morally equivalent to murder. However, if Con is wrong, it does not imply that any or all abortions should be legal. It may be tha

The United states should permit drilling in ANWR

2011-12-12T17:26:15-08:00
(Post Voting Period)
ANWR is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. According to the Department of Energy:

The 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) lies in the northeast
corner of Alaska. The Coastal Plain area, comprising 1.5 million acres on the
northern edge of ANWR, is bordered on the north by the Beaufort Sea, on the east
by the U.S. Canadian border, and on the west by the Canning River. The Coastal
Plain of ANWR is being considered for oil and gas development since it potentially
holds billions of barrels of recoverable oil and trillions of cubic feet of recoverable
gas. Of the 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plain, less than 2000 acres
would be affected by development. [1]

Offshore development is outside the scope of this debate.

For this debate "drilling in ANWR" means commercial drilling and recovery of

Debate.org: RoyLatham's Debates

The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument is Sound - 2

The Americans with Disabilities Act should be repealed

The Purpose of the US Constitution is to Legislate Morality

Anime studies should be offered in American high schools

Obamacare should be repealed.

(MiG Tournament) Physical laws must conform to preconceptions of what is logical

Obama Began His Presidency With an Apology Tour

There is a biological cause to homosexuality

(MIG Tournament) Conservative Showdown #2: Gold Standard

Creationism has made verified predictions.

Libertarians should support Romney

The GOP are ignorant hypocrites for blaming gas prices on Obama

Waterboarding should be legal in the United States.

The Kalām Cosmolgical Argument attempts to prove very little.

U.S. Aid to Pakistan should be continued

A Fetus is Not Morally Equivalent to a Mature Human

The United states should permit drilling in ANWR