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Dont label it a
"kritik," since some judges are afraid of that word. On the other hand, if the Affirmative presses
the point, admit it is one. No big deal.
"Causality" is the relationship of cause and effect. Dont confuse this with the word "casualty."
"Determinism" is the idea that what will happen in the future is precisely and predictably a result
of what has happened in the past. A deterministic view of the world suggests that the universe
acts like a clockwork, and that all future history is already decided. This kritik challenges that
viewpoint.
Adapt this brief to the time limits you face. In addition to the A, E, and F points. You will need to
present at least one of points B, C, and D in the 1NC. The points you omit may be useful as
extensions in later speeches. Of course, if you have time, read the entire brief.
1C
[EXPLAIN HOW THERE CASE
APPLIES]
Observation: Deterministic causality
should be rejected
A. A deterministic world-view is a
hidden assumption of the
Affirmative case.
Analysis: Determinism sees the universe as a
clockwork mechanism of cause and effect. By
presenting arguments based on causality, the
Affirmative tacitly endorses this world-view. The
Negative sees this viewpoint as fundamentally flawed,
and we are clashing with the Affirmative on the basis of
B. Deterministic causality is an
unproven assumption.
Determinism is unproven
Alfred C. Ewing (Lecturer in Moral Science and Reader
in Philosophy, Cambridge Univ.), The Fundamental
Questions of Philosophy, 1962, p. 216: "Yet we must
emphasize that the principle that every event is
completely determined by causes has not been
proved, and is not clearly self-evident. We cannot
even conceive a way in which determinism could be
plausibly worked out in detail for the mind, and
even if true of the material world, doubtful as this
may be nowadays, mind and matter are sufficiently
different for us to have no good ground for
concluding by analogy that it is true of mind."
EXTENDSIONS