Okay here's my negative constructive. Still needs some work, so if anyone wants to critique or advise, that would be awesome....
Hi, my name is Adam Sprecher. I would like to thank the judges, timer, and my opponent for being here today. As the negative speaker, it is my burden to negate the resolution, which reads, “Resolved: when in conflict, idealism aught to be valued above pragmatism.” This resolution should be negated because of my value, which is prudence, and my thesis statement, which is the following: prudence necessitates valuing idealism and pragmatism as equally important. I have three contentions which support this thesis statement. First of all, pragmatism is necessary for survival. Secondly, when overvalued, idealism is both detrimental and dangerous to society. Thirdly, we should value prudence as preeminent because (affirmative value) is useless unless it is considered and pursued with prudence.
Now, before I go any further, I would like to define some key terms that are vital to this debate round.
Conflict—Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary—Competitive or opposing action of incompatibles: antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interests, or persons)
Idealism—Webster’s New World Dictionary, 2nd College Edition—behavior or thought based on a conception of things as they should be or as one would wish them to be; idealization
Pragmatism—Cambridge International Dictionary of English—When you deal with a problem in a realistic way rather than obeying fixed theories, ideas or rules
Value—Webster’s 1828 Dictionary—to consider with respect to importance
Prudence—Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary--skill and good judgment in the use of resources
C1—Pragmatism is necessary for survival.
Some would say that pragmatism is by definition immoral or wrong. This simply is not true. Roy Hattersly says this on the subject: “Morality and expediency coincide more than the cynics allow.” Pragmatism is simply practicality. For those with a correct worldview, practicality is not in conflict with morality. Practicality, obviously, is necessary for life. Idealism is important as well, but without pragmatism, nothing could be accomplished in life.
C2—When overvalued, idealism is both detrimental and dangerous to society.
There have been countless instances throughout history where this has been proven true. Due to the confines of time I will only elaborate on one. The French Revolution is a perfect example of this situation. Ideals of equality, fraternity, and liberty were all admirable goals that were worth working for. However, they overvalued idealism, undervalued pragmatism, and created a bloodbath. If they were pragmatic in this situation, they would not have killed off so many of their fellow citizens. Why did their economy collapse? Why did their culture collapse? These horrific events took place because they valued their ideals over practicality. Now, this is not to say that idealism is bad or unimportant, it is only to say that it is not of chief importance.
C3-- We should value prudence as preeminent because (aff. value) is useless unless it is considered and pursued with prudence.
We must view life under the lens of prudence and practicality. Let me remind you of the definition of prudence: skill and good judgment in the use of resources. This basically means that going through life pragmatically and with prudence means the exact same thing. No other value is worth anything unless it is pursued in a prudent manner. Both history and current events are littered with examples of people and nations attempting to attain perfectly noble values, but they fail because they lack prudence and practicality to do the job right.
In summation, I would like to reiterate my main points. My value is prudence, and my thesis statement states that prudence necessitates valuing idealism and pragmatism as equally important. These are my three contentions. First of all, pragmatism is necessary for survival. Secondly, when overvalued, idealism is both detrimental and dangerous to society. Thirdly, we should value prudence as preeminent because (affirmative value) is useless unless it is considered and pursued with prudence.
