Rapoport's Rules

Rapoport's Rules (also Rappaport's Rules or Dennett's Rules), named after game theorist and philosopher Daniel Dennett respectively, are a set of rules intended to encourage productive, critical discourse. In particular, the rules seek to avoid straw man representations of an opponent's argument (similar to the ""steel man" concept ) and to avoid the backfire effect that criticism often provokes. The rules are most commonly seen in Daniel Dennett's reformulation:

How to compose a successful critical commentary:

1: You should attempt to re-express your target's position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, "Thanks, I wish I’d thought of putting it that way."

2: You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).

3: You should mention anything you have learned from your target.

4: Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.

Full passage from Dennett's book
Daniel Dennett's book about intuition pumps includes a further discussion of importance and origins of the rules:

Dennett also writes on the ups and downs of applying the rules in practice:

Dennett concludes that:

Indeed.