The What-Why-How of Argument
An argument occurs when there are DIFFERING points of view on a particular issue. For example, let’s take the issue of gun control, there are many different arguments on those for gun control, those against it and those that are somewhere in the middle. Hence gun control is a controversial topic…which is key for an argument because if there is no controversy, there can be no argument. As we all know, there are many issues that have controversies associated with them. Some have been around for a very long time such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty…etc. Yet others are relatively new such as artificial intelligence, gender identification, social media…etc. The bottom line is as long as people populate the world, there will always be issues that they will not agree on. Learning how to understand as well as write arguments is key to understanding how society works and functions.
Arguments generally take the shape of either a Toulmin argument or a Rogerian form of argument. In Toulmin you are arguing for your point of view. In Rogerian you are trying to find common ground to get the opposing sides to be able to reach some form of accommodation so that they can work together. Both concepts will be discussed more thoroughly in the next sections
Why do we do it?
Those that believe in a particular point of view on an issue will argue their position and suggest why you should agree with them or for you to take some form of action based upon the argument presented. Let’s say you are trying to get an audience of fellow students to start a movement to change a particular course grading system.
- First, you would put together a list of reasons on why the current system is not correct and should be changed. You then present this argument to those that need to hear it (fellow students, teachers, administrators…etc) your audience, in the hope that they will agree with your reasoning.
- Once you have convinced them that they should agree with you then you can develop another argument as to what should be done; some suggested course of action that should be taken to fix the problem.
How do we do it?
Now comes the tough part…the art of putting together successful arguments. I mention the word “art” because writing a strong argument is almost a form of art that started way back in the era of Socrates and Plato. Anyone can argue but to write a strong argument requires work and critical thinking/reading about a lot of different aspects. In the sections that follow, you will see the structure and organization of the major forms of argument.
Refresher on the Rhetorical Appeals: Before we can argue effectively we need to refresh our thoughts about the three basic concepts associated with writing good arguments: The Rhetorical Appeals of Logos-Ethos-Pathos.
- Logos refers to the hard data support which usually takes the shape or form of numerical data, statistics…etc. It can also include personal experience as well.
- Ethos refers to the credibility of your sources as well as you and the way you present the information. What makes your sources believable? Is it education, experience…etc. Do you present the information fairly in that you consider more than just one point of view.
- Lastly is Pathos which is the emotional aspect of reasoning. Most arguments can be associated with the emotional desires of “want” or “need.” Emotion is a powerful tool but one must be careful not to overwhelm the reader with it.
Having all three of the appeals working for you places you in the best position of having your argument listened to. One must think of these Rhetorical Appeals as tools by which we build our argument. How well you use the appeals decides on whether or not your argument will be accepted.
Terminology:
Assumptions: are underlying beliefs used as reasoning in arguments. Assumptions may be like opinions in that everyone possess different ones so finding assumptions that are universally accepted can be challenging. One might suggest that "all murder is wrong," however others might form the assumption that some murder might be justified under certain conditions."Premises: are the stated assumptions used as the "reasons" in an argument.
Syllogisms: is when two premises are tied together to produce a conclusion. See example under deduction.
Deduction: a mental process that people uses to move from one statement to another. The most common example is:
- All human beings are mortal.
- Socrates is a human being.
- Socrates is therefore mortal.
Induction: is the process by which we take an observation and apply it to other cases in order to reach some form of conclusion.
An example might be:
- If we observe that the bite of a blue lizard is fatal.
- We might infer from that observation that all blue lizards bites are fatal.
- To go even further, one might generalize that all lizard bites may be fatal.
Next we discuss the foundation and structure of arguments.