CHAPTER 3: ARGUMENTATION

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WHAT IS AN ARGUMENTATION ?
An argument is an attempt to convince someone (possibly) yourself) that a particular claim, called the conclusion, is true. The rest of the argument is a collection of claims called the premises, which are given as the reasons for believing the conclusion is true. The conclusion is sometimes called the issue that being debated.
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CONT.. Argumentation involves presenting beliefs rationally. It applies to many kinds of communication: - formal debates, court cases, speeches, literature, advertising, and conversation. Argue without coming to a conclusion--or we avoid argument altogether. People often say it's impolite to argue Trying to convince others that our opinions are true (and that theirs are wrong).
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RECOGNIZING ARGUMENTS

REASONS - Statements that support another statement (known as a conclusion), justify it or make it more probable CONCLUSION -A statement that explains, asserts, or predicts on the basis of statement that offered as evidence

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CUE WORDS FOR ARGUMENTS

Signal that a reason is being offered in support of a conclusion or that a conclusion is being announced on the basis of certain reasons

Cue words signaling reasons: -since in view of -for first, second -because in the first (second) place -as shown by may be inferred from -given that may be derived from -therefore then -so demonstrates that -points to leads me to believe that
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Cue words do help alert us that an arguments is being made Identifying reasoning, conclusions and arguments involves more than looking cue words

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Principles of Argumentation
Analyze the Issue
- To show what kind of problem we face - Must know what we're arguing about - Understand the background out of which the issue arose - Know exactly what constitutes proof or disproof in the argument

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State Your Belief Succinctly as a Proposition

Proposition is the expression of your belief in a statement which can be proved true or false
- Proposition makes an assertion; it indicates what
is to be proved

- Proposition is something we "propose" for acceptance

- It asserts something as true, not merely referring to a topic or pointing to a question - Often fail to understand that we begin by stating a proposition which makes an assertion - Must be asserted, pro or con, before we have argumentation

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State Your Belief Succinctly as a Proposition (Cont..)

Requirements of a Sound Proposition: *proposition should be debatable *proposition should be provable *proposition should be manageable *proposition should be unambiguously phrased *proposition should be significant

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3. Define the major terms in your proposition

avoid useless disagreement resolve the difficulty by defining the term go around Requirements of a Good Definition:
*definition should be adequately inclusive and

adequately exclusive *definition should be expressed in terms simpler and more familiar than the defined term *should not use the term defined or any of its derivatives in the definition *should defend our definitions
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4.Review the Major Ideas Related to the Issue

- Examine the key ideas that relate to the issue

- In this step, we show which attempts to resolve the problem have proved fruitless and which successful - In our survey we use the results of whatever research we've done - This is the reason we study other people's ideas to find answers to our questions and to find criticisms of our own views
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5. Substantiate your Proposition

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The last step in argumentation is to prove what you propose to be true A belief requires proof, not mere assertion Don't prove a proposition simply by stating and analyzing it A proposition must be substantiated as well To substantiate a proposition, we both prove it true and disprove opposing views.
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VALUE OF ARGUMENTATION

Values are concepts people use to evaluate objects Important to arguments because people are in a better position to make arguments if they understand and share the audience's values. These shared values can be used as starting points of arguments. Value hierarchies indicate how an audience arranges values in order of importance
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