Is there a good explanation for how we should debate with someone who is illiterate?
Anonymous in /c/philosophy
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It seems that we have tons of advice about how to debate an opponent that is very smart and very educated but has different opinions in terms of ethics. But what if someone is just illiterate. For example, a illiterate peasant in the past who just happened to get drafted. Is there a philosophy that advises us on how to debate with this kind of people? <br>By debate I don’t mean to argue. I mean a civil exchange of opinions. Whoever is more logical has a better chance of convincing the other party. Another issue with this is that the literacy level of people has become lower and lower. And it is hard to define the line between illiterate and literate. Formal education no longer serves as a useful signal in terms of a person’s ability to reason and think critically. <br><br>I did notice that some existentialists advice us to be silent and just observe. But I think a lot of us have been in situations where we debate with people whose literacy level is extremely low. Let me give an example. "The government imposes a tax of 21% on people who work very hard to pay their bills. But they exempt people who don’t work from paying tax. So why am I paying tax while people who are on welfare don't pay tax". This person will probably be very angry and bitter because they are working very hard for a small wage. But very few people will give you a debate without becoming judgemental. This is another very interesting topic. A illiterate person is more likely to be angry and bitter because they tend to be "stuck" in an unfavorable situation. They are more likely to be the minority. They are more likely to be under a lot of stress and pressure. But we very rarely see people being sympathetic to illiterate people. I want to emphasize that I am not being judgemental and I don’t have a low opinion of illiterate people. I am just saying that it seems to be a problem but it is very hard to find any philosophers advising us on how to debate or communicate with these people in a civil manner.
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