The Arguments

 

SILENCE IS ONE OF THE HARDEST ARGUMENTS TO REFUTE

What are arguments? 

An argument is a series of statements, called the premises or premises (both spellings are acceptable), and intended to determine the degree of truth of another statement, the conclusion.

An argument is a rationale in which the reason presents evidence in support of a claim made in the conclusion.  An explanation is a rationale in which the reason presents a cause of some fact represented by the conclusion. Its purpose is to help us understand how or why that fact occurs.

uses of arguments

Making and assessing arguments can help us get closer to understanding the truth. At the very least, the process helps make us aware of our reasons for believing what we believe, and it enables us to use reason when we discuss our beliefs with other people.

The purpose of argument is to change people's points of view or to persuade people to a particular action or behavior.

Argument is not in itself an end or a purpose of communication.   It is rather a means of discourse, a way of developing what we have to say.   We can identify four primary aims or purposes that argument helps us accomplish:

• Inquiry

The ancient Greeks used the word dialectic to identify an argument as inquiry; a more common term might be dialogue or conversation.   Arguing to inquire helps us accomplish the following:

1. to form opinions
2. to question opinions
3. to reason our way through conflicts or contradictions

It requires an attitude of patient questioning under non-threatening circumstances, usually done alone or among trusted friends and associates.  The primary purpose is a search for the truth.   The primary audience is often the writer and fellow inquirers concerned with the same issues.

Examples: Classroom discussions; journal writing; exploratory essays; letters; late-night bull sessions in a dorm.

• Conviction

While some inquiry may be never-ending, the goal of most inquiry is to reach a conclusion, a conviction.   We seek an earned opinion, achieved through careful thought, research, and discussion.   And then we usually want others to share this conviction, to secure the assent of an audience by means of reason rather than by force.

1. Arguing to inquire centers on asking questions: we want to expose and examine what we think.
2. Arguing to convince requires us to make a case, to get others to agree with what we think. While inquiry is a cooperative use of argument, convincing is competitive.   We put our case against the case of others in an effort to win the assent of readers.

Examples: a lawyer’s brief; newspaper editorials; case studies; most academic writin

• Persuasion

While arguing to convince seeks to earn the assent of readers or listeners, arguing to persuade attempts to influence their behavior, to move them to act upon the conviction. Persuasion aims to close the gap between assent and action.  To convince focuses on the logic of an argument; to persuade will often rely on the personal appeal of the writer (what Aristotle called ethos) and involve an appeal to an audience’s emotions (pathos).   In addition to these personal and emotional appeals, persuasion exploits the resources of language more fully than convincing does.

1. In general, the more academic the audience or the more purely intellectual the issue, the more likely that the writing task involves an argument to convince rather than to persuade.  In most philosophy or science assignments, for example, the writer would usually focus on conviction rather than persuasion, confining the argument primarily to thesis, reasons, and evidence. But when you are working with public issues, with matters of policy or questions of right and wrong, persuasion’s fuller range of appeal is usually appropriate.
2. Persuasion begins with difference and, when it works, ends with identity.   We expect that before reading our argument, readers will differ from us in beliefs, attitudes, and/or desires.   A successful persuasive argument brings readers and writer together, creating a sense of connection between parties.

Examples: Political speeches, sermons, advertising

• Negotiation

If efforts to convince and/or persuade the audience have failed, the participants must often turn to negotiation, resolving the conflict in order to maintain a satisfactory working relationship.

1. Each side must listen closely to understand the other side’s case and the emotional commitments and values that support that case.   The aim of negotiation is to build consensus, usually by making and asking for concessions.   Dialogue plays a key role, bringing us full circle back to argument as inquiry.   Negotiation often depends on collaborative problem-solving.

Examples: Diplomatic negotiations, labor relations, documents in organizational decision-making; essays seeking resolution of conflict between competing parties; also frequent in private life when dealing with disagreements among friends and family members.

Link to powerpoint version

The uses of argument by Stephen e. toulmin

Types of Arguments

There are three basic structures or types of argument you are likely to encounter in college: the Toulmin argument, the Rogerian argument, and the Classical or Aristotelian argument. Although the Toulmin method was originally developed to analyze arguments, some professors will ask you to model its components. Each of these serves a different purpose, and deciding which type to use depends upon the rhetorical situation: In other words, you have to think about what is going to work best for your audience given your topic and the situation in which you are writing.

There are several kinds of arguments in logic, the best-known of which are "deductive" and "inductive." An argument has one or more premises but only one conclusion.

Deductive arguments and Inductive arguments

If the argumenter believes that the truth of the premises definitely establishes the truth of the conclusion, then the argument is deductive. If the arguer believes that the truth of the premises provides only good reasons to believe the conclusion is probably true, then the argument is inductive.

Inductive argument is the act of making generalizeed conclution based off of specific scenarios.

Deductive argument is the act of backing up a generalized statement with specific scenarios.

Justification

Justification is something that proves, explains or supports.

An example of justification is an employer bringing evidence to support why they fired an employee. A reason, explanation, or excuse which provides convincing, morally acceptable support for behavior or for a belief or occurrence. 

What are Arguments Used For? Justification

Explanation

Philosophy, like several different studies, targets by and large at understanding.

An argument is a rationale in which the reason presents evidence in support of a claim made in the conclusion. ... An explanation is a rationale in which the reason presents a cause of some fact represented by the conclusion. Its purpose is to help us understand how or why that fact occurs.

Explanation, in philosophy, set of statements that makes intelligible the existence or occurrence of an object, event, or state of affairs.

The langauge of arguments

Argument helps us learn to clarify our thoughts and articulate them honestly and accurately and to consider the ideas of others in a respectful and critical manner. The purpose of argument is to change people's points of view or to persuade people to a particular action or behavior.

Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves.

Dinesh Shiwantha Wanigathunga

dineshshiwantha@gmail.com