The Devil's Advocate 

A devil's advocate is a person who takes the opposite point of view for the sake of 
argument.  As everyone knows, a person playing devil's advocate can quickly 
become a nuisance by constantly disagreeing with what you say.   While you 
wouldn't want to put up with this type of person for any extended period of time, 
responding to such an antagonist while discussing a paper you have written can 
often produce new and different insights for you.  In addition to opening your eyes 
to new ideas and viewpoints, carrying on a discussion with a devil's advocate forces 
you to do your best at explaining and defending your position.  In reviewing the log 
produced by the talk program after such a discussion, you may find that you have 
stated your position much better while discussing it than you had in what you had 
actually written.

Playing the role of devil's advocate can be a lot of fun, and is really quite easy.  In 
general, you want to challenge the assertions made by the writer.   The writer will 
then have to elaborate the point, by presenting arguments and evidence to support 
the stated view.  When the writer begins to present solutions to the problem, you 
would want to propose alternate solutions (possibly far-fetched ones) so that the 
writer will have to argue why the proposed solution is better than the ones you 
offer.  You may also propose a solution that the writer had not considered before, 
and which may be quite helpful to the goals of the paper.   One important point to 
remember:  When the writer has done a good job of stating a point, concede the 
argument and move on to another topic.  Arguing a point to a stalemate will not be 
helpful to the writer.   Below are some sample exchanges between a writer and a 
devil's advocate.  

Writer:  In my paper, I say that the administration needs to do something about the 
quality of students' lives on campus.

Devil:  I don't think it's the job of the administration to make improvements in the 
quality of life for the students on campus.    What makes you think that the 
administration can do anything about it?  (State an opposing viewpoint:  i.e., it's up 
to the students, not the administration.)

Writer:   Well, I think that part of the reason the quality is so bad in the first place is 
because the administration places so much emphasis on academics, and not enough 
on the other aspects of a student's life.  I think the administration can help balance 
these things out, by emphasizing the other aspects as well.

Devil:  The students come here for academic training--that's what the school is here 
for.  If they want to develop other interests, I would say it is up to the individual 
students to do this for themselves.  (Propose alternate solutions:   i.e., The solution is 
not to have the administration de-emphasize its role, but instead, the students should take 
charge of their lives and develop other areas on their own.)

Writer:  Well that might be true.  But if the students are forced to spend so much 
time and energy on their studies, they don't  have any spare time in which to pursue 
their other interests.  

Devil:  OK,  I'll give you that small point! (Concede to writer)   Tell me what you 
think would improve the quality of life on campus.  (Move on)

Writer:   Well, first I say that one problem students have is lack of spare time.  As a 
way of addressing this smaller problem, I suggest that the Administration provide 
more activities on campus, so that it will be easy and quick for students to get to an 
event.  This will also address a problem often cited by students--they can't "get" 
anywhere to do anything because they don't have transportation.

Devil:  Oh come on.  I don't think that is a valid complaint for students to make.  
After all, there are buses or they could catch a ride with someone who does have a 
car.  (Challenge assertions)

Writer:  That may work for some of them, some of the time, but what about the 
others?  I contend that if you consider the  lack of time problem for some students 
along with the transportation problem for some students, you will see that the end 
product is still a problem.  And this problem can be eased, if not solved, by the 
administration offering more events of interest to the students on campus.

Devil:  OK, you win.  I'll admit that more events on campus would contribute to an 
overall improvement in the quality of life on campus.  (Concede to writer)  But that 
seems like a rather small effort on the part of the administration.  What else do you 
propose they do?  (Move on)

Note that the key to revising based on the Devil's comments is to include the 
Devil's counterarguments and your rebuttals in your essay as faulty/return paths.

 This work was sponsored in part by the Annenberg/CPB Project under a subcontract from Gallaudet 
University.  Copyright 1989 by Carnegie Mellon University/Annenberg/CPB.
Devil's Advocate