Argumentation:

1
Argumentation

• Fighting with words

2
The Nature of the Argument

• always grounded in reason (432).
• seeks to be logical and to avoid fallacious
  reasoning (432).
• does not involve trickery (432).
• aims to be inclusive, to consider the
  controversy from all sides (432).
• making certain concessions to those with other
  points of view is most often a matter of strength
  rather than weakness (432).

3
Aristotles Logos

• deals with logical relationships within a text
  (435).
• Logos aims at the most critical of audiences,
  those not subject to persuasion by pathos
  (feelings) or ethos (the character of the
  speaker) (436).

4
When we reason

• We do so in two formal ways deductively and
  inductively (436).

5
Deduction

• depends on the syllogistic form (436).

6
Syllogistic form

• Example
• All humans are mortal.
• Socrates was a human.
• Socrates was mortal.

7
Major Premise

• The most general of the two and the most
  universally accepted as true (436).
• All humans are mortal.

8
Minor Premise

• moves us to a consideration of particulars
• Socrates was a human.

9
Conclusion

• Socrates was mortal.

10
A syllogism is valid and reliable

• if the syllogism is constructed properly and its
  three terms (humans, mortals, Socrates) are
  distributed in accordance with the rules of
  logic, and if the two premises are reliable
  (436).

11
Reliable premises

• A premise, a thesis, or an idea is said to be
  reliable when we are so convinced of its truth
  that we are willing to act on it (436).

12
Deductive logic

• moving from the general to the specific (436).

13
Inductive logic

• moving from the specific to the general (436).

14
Ethos

• refers to the character of the speaker (437).
• the audience is swayed because of the speakers
  authority in his or her fieldstature (437).

15
Pathos

• an appeal to feeling (437).

16
Fallacies

• an error in reasoning (438).

17

• Common
• Fallacies

18
Hasty generalization

• reaching a conclusion based on too little
  evidence (438).

19
Hasty Generalization

• Sometimes a writer will deliberately lead you to
  a conclusion by providing insufficient, selective
  evidence (126).

20
Example

• Ping-pong is an extremely dangerous sport last
  year, my friend got hit in the eye with a
  ping-pong ball and almost lost his vision in that
  eye.

21
Stereotyping

• making assumptions about things, places, or
  people based on too little evidence (438).

22
Circular reasoning

• asserting one thing to explain the same thing
  or simply asserting the same idea in slightly
  different words (438).

23
Either-or-thinking

• thinking that presents only two alternatives,
  thereby avoiding the vast spectrum of more
  reasonable possibilities that exist between the
  poles (438).

24
Ad Hominem

• Latin for to the man
• any kind of fallacious argument that criticizes
  an idea by pointing something out about the
  person who holds the idea, rather than directly
  addressing the actual merit of the idea
  (Hartzell 124).

25
Example

• Of course that writer supports gun control shes
  a Democrat!

26
Argument from Authority

• tempts us to agree with the writers assumptions
  based on the authority of a famous person or
  entity or on his or her own character

27
Example

• It is absurd to believe that professional
  baseball players have used steroids because the
  most famous slugger of our time has repeatedly
  asserted that such a claim is false.

28
Appeal to Ignorance

• based on the assumption that whatever has not
  been proven false must be true (125).

29
Example

• No one can prove that the Loch Ness monster does
  not exist therefore, the Loch Ness monster
  exists.

30
Begging the Question

• a fallacious form of argument in which someone
  assumes that parts (or all) of what the person
  claims to be proving are proven facts (125).

31
Example

• The Loch Ness monster spoke to me in my dreams,
  so it must exist.

32
Non Sequitur

• Latin for it doesnt follow.
• a statement that does not relate logically to
  what comes before it (126).

33
Non Sequitur

• In a non sequitur, there is no logical
  connection between the initial phrase and the one
  that follows it, so you shouldnt try to make
  one (126).

34
Example

• If you really wanted to earn a 5 on the AP
  English Language and Composition exam, you
  wouldnt spend so much time reading Isabel
  Allendes novels.

35
False Dichotomy

• consists of a consideration of only the two
  extremes when there are one or more intermediate
  possibilities (126).

36
Example

• AP Calculus BC class is impossible either you
  get it or you dont.

37
Slippery Slope

• arguments suggest dire consequences from
  relatively minor causes (126).

38
Example

• If we stop requiring men to wear coats and ties
  in the dining room, pretty soon theyll start
  coming in dressed in beachwear.

39
Faulty Causality

• refers to the (sometimes unintentional) setting
  up of a cause-and-effect relationship when none
  existsone event can happen after another without
  the first necessarily being the direct cause of
  the second (126).

40
Example

• Violent crime among adolescents has risen in the
  past decade, and that is the result of increased
  sales of violent video games.

41
Straw Man Argument

• consists of an oversimplification of an
  opponents argument to make it easier to attack
  (127).

42
Example

• Students who want to eliminate the school uniform
  are exhibitionists who want to show off bare
  midriffs.

43
Sentimental Appeals

• attempts to appeal to the hearts of readers (or,
  of course, listeners) so that they forget to use
  their minds (127).

44
Example

• The assignment that I gave you last night was
  much too long, but just think how pleased your
  parents and I will be when you score a 5 on the
  AP exam. Think about the pride youll feel when
  tears of joy stream down our faces.

45
Red Herring

• attempts to shift attention away from an
  important issue by introducing an issue that has
  no logical connection to the discussion at hand
  (127).

46
Example

• My opponent talks about the poor quality of
  military intelligence, but this is a time for
  decisiveness, not for weakness. We must stick
  together and present a common front as the other
  nations look on. If we do not, we could
  jeopardize our position as a global leader.

47
Scare Tactics

• used to frighten readers or listeners into
  agreeing with speaker often, when scare tactics
  are used, the speaker has no logical argument on
  which to fall back (127).

48
Example

• My opponent talks about the need to explore stem
  cell research, but this would bring about an end
  to ethical uses of technology, and before long,
  scientists will be creating superracesthe Nazi
  dream of an Aryan Nation will ensue!

49
Bandwagon Appeals

• encourages the listener to agree with a position
  because everyone else does. The logic goes
  something like this If everybody else is doing
  it, it must be all right (128).

50
Example

• Its time for our county to repeal the ban on
  strip miningevery other county in the state has
  already done so!

51
Dogmatism

• does not allow for discussion because the
  speaker presumes that his or her beliefs are
  beyond question essentially, the logic runs
  thusly Im correct because Im correct (128).

52
Example

• We are members of the Wombat Party and, as such,
  know that we are right when we assert that
  Wombats are the best!

53
Equivocation

• telling part of the truth, while deliberately
  hiding the entire truth typically, this is
  similar to lying by omission (128).

54
Example

• Pink Panther movie Does your dog bite? The
  manager says, No. The dog bites Clouseau. He
  asks the manager, You told me that your dog does
  not bite. The manager says, Thats not my dog.

55
Faulty Analogy

• an illogical, misleading comparison between two
  things (129).

56
Example

• Why should we invade that country? Let me
  explain it to you like this. What if you looked
  out the window and saw a 20 bill in the street?
  Wouldnt you go outside and take it?