Transcript PowerPoint - Chris Coffey

Argumentation
Chris Coffey
Prism Ltd.
www.ChristopherCoffey.com
[email protected]
What is Argumentation?
 Argumentation is the study of
effective reasoning.
 Argumentation implies there is
an audience.
 Argumentation is both a
product and a process.
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Argumentation is both a…
Product
 A compelling end-result
Process
 A structured approach
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Argumentation is..
Rhetoric
Logic
Dialectic
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 Shows a concern for the
audiences
 Shows a concern for
structure of reasoning
 Shows a concern for testing
knowledge through Q & A
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Argumentation: Assumptions
 Audience decides
 Conditions of uncertainty
 Justification for claims
 merely plausible
 highly probable
 Cooperative
 There is risk
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4 Types of Claims
Fact/Conjecture
A description
Definition
Interpretation
Quality/Value
Policy
A judgment
Involves judgment
Evidence must be produced
to justify the claim.
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Major Components
Claim
Statement we want the
listener to believe
Evidence
Grounds for making
the claim
Inference
Main proof line from
evidence to claim
Warrant
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A license to make
the inference
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Arguments: Patterns
Series
Dependent on each other
Convergent
Independent &
cumulative
Parallel
Independent &
each sufficient
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How we humans know things:
 Tenacity: won’t move off our current
belief
 Authority: uncritical acceptance
 A priori: Facts are deduced from self
evident beliefs
 Verification: The scientific method
© 2007 Prism Ltd.
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Fallacious arguments
 Declaring arguments sacrosanct
 Introducing irrelevant matters
 Falsely presenting a premise as self
–evident
 Exploit prejudices
 Using language to obfuscate
 Violating procedural rules
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How do arguments end?
 A common understanding is reached
 Time runs out
 Overtaken by other events
 There is a conceptual breakthrough
 The controversy is perpetual
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