Issue 1: "In any academic area or professional field, it is just as important to recognize the limits of our knowledge and understanding as it is to acquire new facts and information."
Position: It is more important to acquire new facts and information than to recognize the limits of our knowledge and understanding.
A. New facts and information add to our knowledge, constantly deepening and broadening our understanding of the unknown.
B. The solution to one problem may lead to the appearance of more problems in the world of knowledge, which invites further exploration and more progress as a result.
C. However, overemphasizing the limits of our knowledge and understanding may hinder our effort to ceaselessly pursue new frontiers of knowledge.
Issue 2: "The concept of 'individual responsibility' is a necessary fiction. Although societies must hold individuals accountable for their own actions, people's behavior is largely determined by forces not of their own making."
Position: While I admit that people’s behavior is largely influenced by external force out of their control, I insist that individuals should be held responsible for their own actions.
A. Organizational management rests on the basic assumption that individuals should and can take their respective responsibility in accordance with their specific roles in the organizational structure.
B. Many political, social as well as familial problems result from the lack of a sense of individual responsibility.
C. Admittedly, the fact that individuals, as social animals, are molded by the social environment in which they grow up, should draw our attention to the government’s responsibility in construction and maintaining a social environment contributive to the healthy growing of individuals.
Issue 3: "Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student's field of study because acquiring knowledge of various academic disciplines is the best way to become truly educated."
Position: I strongly hold that students should be encouraged to take courses beyond their major.
A. By exploring subjects outside their own major, students may find new academic fields where lie their real interest and potential gift.
B. Since various academic disciplines are interrelated, the study of courses outside the students’ own field may benefit the study of their own major.
Issue 4: "People work more productively in teams than individually. Teamwork requires cooperation, which motivates people much more than individual competition does."
Position: Working in teams leads to greater achievements and more personal satisfaction than working individually.
A. In a team, members offer different perspectives, leading to innovation and creativity.
B. In a team, members share their unique spiritual, intellectual and material resources, which is imperative for the completion of any significant task.
C. Competition among individuals works most constructively when it is guided by teamwork.
Issue 6: "In any realm of life—whether academic, social, business, or political—the only way to succeed is to take a practical, rather than an idealistic, point of view. Pragmatic behavior guarantees survival, whereas idealistic views tend to be superceded by simpler, more immediate options."
Position: In this practical and competitive world, being practical is essential to our survival; yet ideals add to our courage to overcome obstacles in reality and give us a direction in our pursuit of success.
A. From a philosophical point of view, living is experiencing, which is an everlasting interaction between man and reality.
B. Any human undertaking irrespective of the hard facts and laws of reality is destined to failure.
C. However, ideals give us hope and enthusiasm, lifting us to new heights and helping us to overcome self-imposed limitations.
Issue 10: "The purpose of many advertisements is to make consumers want to buy a product so that they will 'be like' the person in the ad. This practice is effective because it not only sells products but also helps people feel better about themselves."
Position: Employing celebrities for advertising has proved to be an effective way to sell products.
A. In every society, celebrities are employed to promote products.
B. Celebrity advertising appeals to false authority and emotion for effectiveness.
Although celebrity advertising proves effective for producers, it does not necessarily make consumers feel better.