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Introduction to Arguments & Persuasion

What is an argument?

"a reasoned assertion about a debatable issue."

When you write an argument, your purpose is NOT to win, but to state and support your POSITION on an issue.

Critiques

"What is true?"

Summarizes a position before either refuting it, or defending it.

Critiques

REFUTATIONS: expose the reasoning as inadequate/contradicts the position.

DEFENSES: shows that criticisms are unreasonable and unconvincing.

Reviews

"What is good?"

Reviews

The writer evaluates an event, artifact, practice, or institution, judging by principles and criteria.

Proposals/policy papers

"What should be done?"

Proposals

These are designed to cause change in the world.

Readers are encouraged to see a situation in a specific way and to take action.

Recognizing an Argument

remember, an argument means a path of reasoning aimed at persuading people to accept or reject an assertion. The assertion MUST BE ARGUABLE!

Recognizing an Argument

Is this arguable?

"Women should be allowed to try out for all college sports teams."

Analyzing/Evaluating

Analyzing & Evaluating

Three common ways to analyze arguments are:

1. Types of reasoning

2. Toulmin method

3. Audience appeal

Types of Reasoning

Types of Reasoning

  • Inductive reasoning: they do not prove an argument is true; instead, they convince reasonable people that it is probable by presenting existing evidence (facts, stats, expert opinions, anecdotes)

  • Deductive reasoning: if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true

Examples using this statement: "Cyberbullying causes depression."

Toulmin Method

The Toulmin method

Philosopher Stephen Toulmin's analysis of arguments is based on claims (assertions about a topic), grounds, (reasons and evidence), and warrants (assumptions or principles that link the grounds to the claims).

"The death penalty should be abolished because if it is not abolished innocent people could be executed."

CLAIM: The death penalty should be abolished.

GROUNDS: Innocent people could be executed.

WARRANT: It is not possible to be completely sure of a person's guilt. (counter)

Let's use the method on the argument below:

"Cyberbullying causes depression because suicide rates of bullied teens have gone up 90% in the past 10 years."

Audience Appeal

Analyzing appeals

Arguments support claims by way of three types of appeals to readers:

ETHOS: (character/ethics) present authors as fair, reasonable, and trustworthy, backed up with the testimony of experts.

PATHOS: (passion/emotion) engage an audience's feeling and invoke beliefs that the author and audience share.

LOGOS: (logic) offers facts, including statistics, as well as reasoning, inductive and deductive.

Can you think of everyday examples of these appeals?

Fallacy

A mistake/error in logic.

Logical Fallacies

  • Non sequitur
  • False cause/post hoc
  • False analogy
  • Red herring
  • Bandwagon
  • Ad hominem
  • Circular reasoning
  • Either/or fallacy
  • And many more, pg 123-24

Examples

Non sequitur

A conclusion that does not logically follow from the evidence presented or one that is based on irrelevant evidence:

ex: "Students who default on loans have no sense of responsibility."

Why is this a fallacy?

False cause/post hoc

an argument that falsely assumes that because one thing happens after another, the first event was a cause of the second event.

ex: "I drank green tea, and my headache went away: therefore, green tea makes headaches go away."

Why is this a fallacy?

False analogy

a comparison in which a surface similarity masks a significant difference.

ex: "Governments and businesses both work within a budget to accomplish their goals. Just as business must focus on the bottom line, so should government."

Why is this a fallacy?

Red herring

An argument that diverts attention from the true issue by concentrating on an irrelevant one.

ex: "Hemingway's book Death in the Afternoon is not successful because it glorifies the brutal sport of bullfighting."

Why is this a fallacy?

Bandwagon

An argument that depends on going along with the crowd, on the false assumption that truth can be determined by a popularity contest.

ex: "Given the sales of that book, its claims must be true."

Why is this a fallacy?

Ad hominem

A personal attack on someone who disagrees with you rather than on the person's argument.

ex: "The district attorney is a lazy political hack, so naturally she opposes streamlining the court system."

Why is this a fallacy?

Circular reasoning

An argument that restates the point rather than supporting it with reasonable evidence.

ex: "The wealthy should pay more taxes because taxes should be higher for people with higher incomes."

Why is this a fallacy?

Either/or fallacy

The idea that a complicated issue can be resolved by resorting to one of only two options when in reality there are additional choices.

ex: "Either the state legislature will raise taxes or our state's economy will falter."

Why is this a fallacy?

Recognizing Warrants

Let's identify the warrants (or assumptions)...

1. College students should have fewer required courses and more electives because they should have more control over their own education.

2. The drinking age should be lowered to eighteen because that is the legal age for voting and serving in the military.

What is the arguer's assumptions?

Start by...

Writing your own argument

Figuring out what is at issue on a topic that you choose...

  • Are things not as they should be?
  • Have things always been this way, or have they changed for the worse?
  • From what different perspectives (economic, social, political, cultural, medical, geographic) can this problem be understood?
  • Do people interested in this topic disagree about what is true, what is good, or what should be done?

Next...

Develop a reasonable stance...

  • build ethos by influencing readers to trust your character
  • conduct research, making you well informed
  • read other people's views, making you more thoughtful
  • pay attention to where you disagree, not what you have in common
  • Avoid langauage that may promote prejudice or fear
  • Try out different perspectives
  • make a list of arguments for and against a specific position
  • compare these lists and decide where you stand
  • Does one set of arguments seem stronger than the other?
  • Do you want to change or qualify your initial position?

Composing a thesis statement...

Personal feelings and accepted facts CANNOT serve as an argument's thesis because they are not debatable.

example of a non-debatable thesis:

"I feel that developing nations should not suffer food shortages."

How can we make this debatable?

Developing your thesis...

A strong, debatable thesis needs to be supported and developed with sound reasoning and carefully documented evidence.

A well-developed argument paper includes more than one type of claim and more than one kind of evidence.

It also pays attention to the COUNTERARGUMENTS, substantiated claims that do not support your position.

Address potential counterarguments by:

  • include words in your thesis such as: most, some, usually, or likely
  • add to the thesis a statement of the conditions for, or exceptions to your position
  • choose at least one or two counterarguments, and refute their truth or their importance

Creating an outline...

*Use the "Building an argument" handout to help with creating your argument outline!

  • An intro to the topic and the debatable issue
  • A thesis stating your position on the issue
  • A point-by-point account of the reasons for your position, including evidence
  • A fair presentation and refutation of one or two key counterarguments to your thesis
  • A response to the "So what?" question - why your argument matters

Promote dialogue in the intro...

To promote dialogue with your readers, look for COMMON GROUND

Sometimes called the "Rogerian argument" after psychologist Carl Rogers, the common-ground approach is important in your introduction, where it can build bridges with readers who might otherwise become to defensive or annoyed to read further.

If possible, return to that common ground at the end of your argument.

Can you think of an example of a common ground argument?

"So what?"

By the time you reach your conclusion, you should restate your position by emphasizing it's importance, and you should be able to answer the "So what?" question!

*Go over the "Arguments checklist" handout to be sure your paper is adequately developed!

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