{"id":293,"date":"2020-08-04T15:47:34","date_gmt":"2020-08-04T15:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2025\/?page_id=293"},"modified":"2025-12-04T00:40:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T00:40:27","slug":"december-8","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/livingagoodlife.com\/fall2025\/concluding-unit\/december-8\/","title":{"rendered":"December 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Monday, Dec. 8, 2025
Plenary<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Final Debate: Which Way of Life is Best?<\/b><\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Overview:<\/strong><\/p>

Our penultimate class session will be devoted to a debate between the four schools on which we\u2019ve focused this semester, each one represented by all the students in a single section.<\/span><\/p>

Four sections have been assigned to specific schools. One section will serve as our cross-examiners and jury pool:\n
Section 1 -- Jury\n
Section 2 -- Daoism\n
Section 3 -- Stoicism\n
Section 4 -- Confucianism\n
Section 5 -- Existentialism\n<\/span><\/p>

For students in sections assigned to a school<\/u>: each of you will need to consider with the peers in your section the best arguments you can develop for your assigned position, drawing on what you\u2019ve learned about the different approaches to the good life we\u2019ve covered <\/span>so far <\/span>in this course. While your main goal is to argue for your position<\/b>, you\u2019ll also be arguing against the positions of the other sections\u2019 teams and responding to questions and challenges raised by students from section 1 during the debate.<\/span>
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For students in the jury section<\/u>: your role in this debate is to serve as cross-examiners and to <\/span>get the members of each team to improve the quality of their arguments<\/b>. After pooling a set of questions together in your groups during round 1, a cross-examiner from your section will need to raise questions in round 2 that challenge the arguments of sections 2, 3, 4, and 5. (You can have as many cross-examiners as you like participate in this round.) <\/font>At the end of the debate, all students from section 1 will rank-order the teams to determine a winner. <\/span>Please note here that your section is both cross-examining and<\/b> providing a verdict at the end of the debate: rather than being an advocate for any position, students in section 1 should think of themselves as judges (in the style of Supreme Court justices) examining the merits and demerits of a case.<\/font><\/p>

For all sections<\/u>: by Fri. December 5<\/b>, please convey to your professors who will be representing your section during the debate. School <\/u><\/span>Sections<\/span> each need to select: <\/span>one spokesperson for round 1; <\/span>one or two respondents for round 2; <\/span>one spokesperson for the concluding round. The Jury <\/u><\/span>Section <\/span>needs to select one or more <\/span>cross-examiners for each school for round 2.<\/font>
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Format<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>

This debate consists of two rounds and a conclusion. Each section\u2019s team should select a different representative for each phase of the debate<\/font>.<\/span>
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  1. In <\/span>round 1<\/u>, a spokesperson for each team in the School Sections will give a 5-minute presentation arguing for their team\u2019s position. During and after each of these presentations, students in the Jury Section are encouraged to raise questions\/challenges on a shared Google Doc to help the cross-examiners in their section prepare for round 2.<\/span><\/li>
  2. In round 2, the views of each School Section will be cross-examined by members of the Jury Section. The cross-examination of each team will last 5 minutes.<\/font>
    <\/li>
  3. Each School Section then confers for 5 minutes to prepare for their conclusion.
    <\/font><\/li>
  4. To conclude, a final spokesperson for each School Section gives a 3-minute summary of their position.
    <\/font><\/li>
  5. After the debate, all students in the Jury Section will vote on which team\u2019s arguments they found most convincing overall.<\/font><\/li><\/ol>