Disputation

Disputation is inspired by a game of medieval philosophers that sharpened their memories and skills at logical argument. Specifically, I attempt (not perhaps precisely) to recreate Walter Burley’s rules of obligational disputations. The game presents you with a sequence of statements. Your goal is to exhaust the questioner's list of statements without contradicting yourself. If you succeed, the questioner acknowledges your extreme cleverness. If you fail, the questioner points out your contradiction and invites you to try again.

To play the game, you Assent to or Refute each statement. Each statement can be true, false, or undecided. Assenting to an undecided statement makes it true. Refuting an undecided statement makes it false. However, if the statement is already true or false as a result of your prior choices, then you must Assent of Refute accordingly.

A simple statement has one part, for example 'It is cold.' An 'and' statement has two parts. It is true if both parts are true, false if at least one part is false, and undecided otherwise. An 'or' statement is true if at least one part is true, false if both parts are false, and undecided otherwise.

An 'if … then …' statement is true if its first part is false or if its last part is true. It is false if the first part is true and the last part is false. It is undecided otherwise.

Good luck! I hope this game strengthens your memory, introduces you to the principles of propositional logic and logical argument, or maybe just helps you to pass the time in a constructive mental exercise!