That there is no such thing as a bad question

I have noted his definition, and found it to be lacking in content. Bad is a very broad word and my opponent seeks to sum it all up with only one definition. That doesn't work. Due to the round constraints we have for this debate I will not propose an alternative. It might be considered impolite to raise new material at this stage of debate, but I recently learned that rules of debating are very different all over the world and so I just hope you live in a country that allows new arguments brought out in the latter half of the debate, my thanks and apologies if that's not the case. My opponent raises an argument with some unclear assumptions in mind that he presumes I accept. This is not the case. I argue that these are assumptions simply because he did not reinforce them with examples or evidence. Given that this is a rather philosophical debate, I won't hold that against him. These are his assumptions: a) A question cannot be morally incorrect despite every other part of speech being able to. (No idea why) b) If circumstances are morally incorrect, the question remains correct. (For some reason) He bases these ungrounded bits of logic on one claim: That questions (noun) are good, but questioning (verb) can be bad. At face value I can see why people fall for that argument. I would like to refute this type of reasoning with one point: If the questioning is harmful, that makes the question the bullet. And in such scenarios, anything that hurts anyone will fit the negative team's definition of 'bad. ' That means that both the question and the way it is being asked is hurtful. But note* The question is the thing that hurts. Not the questioning. Its like firing a gun and claiming that the gun is the culprit not the bullet. In this case, the gun is the questioning (verb) and the bullet is the question (noun). you cannot say one is bad without the other being bad. Either both are good, or both are bad. My next issue of rebuttal is my opponents claim that questions are moral, and they are used immorally, hence the illusion of a bad question. In his words: ". .. the use of the morally right question in a context that could cause pain. .. " He explicitly claims that the above is "the only aspect related to the question which might be seen as bad. .. " I would like my opponent to justify his claim against this question: 'Have you stopped beating your wife? ' This is referred to as a loaded question, if you answer 'yes,' you admit to have beaten your wife in the past, answering 'no' means you are still beating your wife. These sorts of questions are double negative. And my opponent cannot claim that the way it is asked is the thing that is bad, in this case, the question is inherently bad, immoral question, as it seeks to corner the person being asked. Now in consistency with my other arguments, I also claim that the way it is asked plays a role in whether the question is a good or bad question. Not to the irrational extent my opponent does however. Furthermore, I would like to point out how one of my points in round one completely dismantles his argument. My fourth argument from round 1 was that bad quality questions are bad questions. In this case, they way the question is asked is completely out of the question, (so to speak) thus, invalidating his case. Reiterating on that point, I would like to point out that questions are either open-ended, or close-ended questions. [1][2][3][4] An open-ended question asks questions like why? or how? Questions that require a detailed response. Close-ended questions are questions that only need a yes or no response. Close ended-questions are the inferior of the two types of questions. As I said before in the previous round, the inferior question meets the universally agreed to definition of the word 'bad. ' It is the 'badder' of the two questions. In conclusion, my opponent proved that a question can be badly asked, but has not done much in the way of proving that a question cannot be bad, simply because it is impossible. There are bad questions, just as there are badly asked questions. Since this is the last round, I would like to thank my opponent for a wonderful debate, I wish him all the success he needs as he debates. Keep up the good work :) [1] . http://integritysolutions.wordpress.com... [2] . http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu... [3] . http://writing.colostate.edu... [4] . http://toolboxes.flexiblelearning.net.au...