Transcript The Classical Argument - blessman | Francis Howell High School

THE CLASSICAL ARGUMENT
YOUR RESEARCHED ARGUMENT PAPER…
Take a stand on an issue
 Offer reasons and evidence in support of your
position
 Summarize and respond to alternative views

GOALS…
To persuade your audience, who can initially
be perceived as either opposed to your
position or undecided about it
 To adopt your position or at least to regard it
more openly or favorably

HISTORY…
The need for argument arises whenever
members of a community disagree on an issue
 The art of arguing was essential for good
citizenship
 Idea: If disputes could be resolved through an
exchange or perspectives, negotiation of
differences, and flexible seeking of the best
solutions to a problem, nations won’t have to
resort to war or individuals to fighting.

TWO COMPONENTS…
Your study of argumentation involves:
 Truth seeking: diligent, open-minded, and
responsible search for the best course of action
or solution to a problem, taking into account all
of the available information and alternative
points of view
 Persuasion: the art of making a claim on an
issue and justifying it convincingly so that the
audience’s initial resistance to your position is
overcome and they are moved toward your
position.

WHAT IT IS NOT…
A fight in which you ridicule anyone who
disagrees with you
 A pro/con debate. It is not a two-sided
contest with winners and losers.

WHAT IT IS…
What is the best solution to the problem that
divides us?
 It is a process and product.

Process: the act if inquiry, fact finding, information
gathering, and considering alternative points of
view.
 Product: Someone’s contribution to the
conversation in the form of (in this case) and
researched paper and speech to the class.

EXPLORE…
An effective way to appreciate argument as
both persuasion and truth seeking is to address
and issue that is new to you and then watch
how your own views evolve.
 Ideologies (beliefs) are not set in stone…

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT: YOUR GROWTH
AS AN ARGUER
Stage 1: Argument as personal opinion
 Stage 2: Argument structured as claim
supported by one or more reasons.
 Stage 3: Increased attention to truth seeking.
 Stage 4: Ability to articulate the unstated
assumptions underlying their arguments.
 Stage 5: Ability to link an argument to the
values and beliefs of the intended audience.

STAGE 1: ARGUMENT AS PERSONAL OPINION

“The family shouldn’t have killed the starlings
because that is really wrong! I mean that act
was disgusting. It makes me sick to think how
so many people are just willing to kill something
for no reason at all. How are these parents
going to teach their children values if they just
go out and kill little birds for no good reason?!
This whole family is what’s wrong with America!
STAGE 2: ARGUMENT STRUCTURED AS CLAIM
SUPPORTED BY ONE OR MORE REASONS

“The family’s act constituted cruelty to animals
Because the starlings were doing minimal harm
 Because other options were available
 Because the way they killed the birds caused
needless suffering

STAGE 3: INCREASED ATTENTION TO TRUTH
SEEKING
Listen to other views
 Conduct research
 Evaluate alternative perspectives and stances

STAGE 4: ABILITY TO ARTICULATE THE UNSTATED
ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING THEIR ARGUMENTS

Identify and analyze your own assumptions
and those of the intended audiences.
STAGE 5: ABILITY TO LINK AN ARGUMENT TO THE
VALUES AND BELIEFS OF THE INTENDED AUDIENCE

Adapt structure and tone to the resistance
level of their audience
CREATING AN ARGUMENT FRAME
A clear question that focuses the argument,
your claim, and supporting reasons.
 Often your reasons, stated as because clauses,
can be attached to your claim to provide a
working thesis statement.

FINDING AN ARGUABLE ISSUE
Issue: defined as a questions that invites more
than one reasonable answer and thus leads to
perplexity or disagreement.
 Excludes disagreements based on personal
tastes (Baseball is more fun than soccer)
 Excludes purely private questions because
issues arise out of disagreement in
communities.

FINDING AN ARGUABLE ISSUE

Issue questions are often framed as yes/no
choices.
Should gay marriage be legalized?
 Should the federal government place a substantial
tax on gasoline to elevate its price?

Or open ended
How can we best solve the energy crisis?
FINDING AN ARGUABLE ISSUE

In the starling situation we framed the question
two ways:
Was the family guilty of cruelty to animals? (Your
argument would have to develop criteria for
cruelty to animals and then argue whether the
family’s actions met that criteria)
 What should the family do about the starlings?
(Your argument could propose your own solution
to the problem ranging from doing nothing to
climbing into the attic and drowning the birds for a
quick and painless death)

CLAIMS AND REASONS

Your claim is the position you want to take on
the issue. It is a brief, one sentence answer to
your issue question:
The family was not ethically justified in killing the
starlings.
 The city should build skateboarding areas with
ramps in all city parks.
 The federal government should substantially
increase its taxes on gasoline.

ARTICULATING REASONS
Your claim needs to be supported by reasons
and evidence.
 A reason (sometimes called a premise) is a
subclaim that supports your main claim.
 In speaking or writing, a reason is usually linked
to the claim with such connecting words as
because, therefore, so, consequently, and
thus.
 Formulating your reasons in this way allows you
to create a thesis statement that breaks your
argument into smaller parts, each part
devoted to one of the reasons.

SUPPOSE…
You are examining the issue “Should the
government legalize hard drugs such as
cocaine and heroin?” Here are several
different points of view on this issue, each
expressed as a claim with because clauses:
 One view: Cocaine and heroin should be
legalized

Because legalizing drugs will keep the government
out of people’s private lives
 Because keeping these drugs illegal has the same
negative effects on our society that alcohol
prohibition did in the 1920’s.

ANOTHER VIEW…

Cocaine and heroin should be legalized
Because taking drug sales out of the hands of drug
dealers would reduce street violence
 Because decriminalization would cut down on
prison overcrowding and free police to
concentrate on dangerous crime rather then
fighting drug dealers
 Because elimination of underworld profits would
change the economic structure of the underclass
and promote shifts to socially productive jobs and
careers.

STILL ANOTHER VIEW…

The government should not legalize cocaine
and heroin
Because doing so will lead to an increase in drug
users and addicts
 Because doing so will send the message that it is
okay to use hard drugs

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Although the yes/no framing of this questions
seems to reduce the issue to a two-position
debate, many different value systems are at
work here.
 The first argument values maximum individual
freedom
 The second argument takes a community
perspective valuing the social benefits of
eliminating black market drug-dealing culture.
 In the same way, individuals could oppose
legalization for a variety of reasons.
