This is an interdisciplinary textbook in moral & political theory and speech & communications. It is primarily intended for students who compete in interscholastic forensics (i.e., debate) and (perhaps even moreso) for their coaches. It was published in 1996, while I was still a graduate student. The book is most widely used by debaters and coaches involved in Lincoln-Douglas debate. The book consists of three sections: an introduction and basic how-to guide, a survey of the most relevant moral and political theories and concepts, and an analysis of the theoretical foundations of both the traditions which structure the debates and the conventions by which judges of the debates reach their decisions. The second part occupies most of the text. To make this part of the book useful to a wide range of students (from high school freshmen to college students and coaches), the text is presented in three different fonts which indicate whether the difficulty of the material is basic, moderate, or advanced.
Look for a second edition to
be published in 2001.
You can click
here, or on the book, to go to Clark Publishing's website and view
the book's table of contents.
