Debate Vs. A Dialogic Argument

Many people think that argument and debate go hand in hand, you can not have one without the other. This is not true, there is in fact a huge difference between a debate and a dialogic argument. Writing Arguments states at the beginning of chapter one that an argument is “reasonable people seeking the best solution to a problem.” There is a desire to seek and find the truth in an argument. Debate however takes a reasonable argument and flips it into a game. A game where different parties try desperately to “win” by proving that the other party is completely wrong. The interview with Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly was full of negative comments made to ensure that each party felt like they won, while trying to prove the other completely wrong. The environment was not focused on truth seeking, or finding a solution. These two reasons are why this interview was a debate, and not an argument.
From the minute that Bill O’Reilly walked on the stage Jon Stewart started to poke fun to belittle him.
Jon mocks Bill’s stance on the ebola scare, and offers him hand sanitizer. He then goes on to make fun of Bill’s book By saying the book was a waste. Then admitting he never read it. These actions were very rude, however then did succeed in giving the impression that Jon is ahead of Bill in the race to “win”. Later in the interview Jon makes it clear that he only wants to be proven right, not develop a better understanding. Jon tells Bill “I just want you to say I’m terribly, Terribly wrong on this. Can’t it be possible that some of Bill’s statements are based on truth, isn’t that worth
considering? Nothing, through the course of this debate was based in truth seeking. the entire time one gentleman wouldn’t let the other speak, and there were multiple times they were talking over each other. How can you learn if you’re not even listening? There was a moment when it felt like the conversation was moving towards being a dialogic argument by Bill O’Reilly agreeing with Jon’s argument on white privilege. However Jon immediately takes the opportunity to stand and shit the conversation down saying “I am right, we are done.” The sad thing is that at these two gentlemen's core they do share many of the same beliefs. They both are trying to improve America. They both agree that African Americans have it harder, however no one is sitting where they are because they are black or white. However due to the need to “win” this debate hey jump to opposite sides of the spectrum and refuse to cross over. Nothing will ever be improved through this kind of debate.