ILRLR 3300 Argumentation & Debate Terminology - Key Concepts and Definitions

Acceptance

Possible response to an argument - to accept it as presented (find it persuasive, or at least lacking in any major flaw)

Adequacy

Test of evidence - is it sufficient to support the claim?

Accessibility

Test of evidence - availability

Ad hominem fallacy

An intentional effort to attack a person rather than an argument, by damaging an opponent's character or reputation or by engaging in name-calling and labeling

Ad populum fallacy

A fallacy - appealing to the audience and its interests rather than to the merits of the argument

Advocacy

Promoting or opposing an idea in public settings

Affirmative case

In policy debate, a series of arguments challenging the status quo

A fortiori argument

Type of literal analogy that asserts that what is true of its evidence case is even more likely or even less likely to be true of its conclusion case.

Example: We thought fat was bad, turns out sugar is even worse, so we have to treat it as such

Ambiguity

More than one meaning of a word or phrase in a single context

Analogy

For the sake of supporting a claim, a comparison of something with which we are familiar to something with which we are less familiar, or about which we have some question

Antecedent

"If" clause in a conditional statement; "that which comes before"

Appeal

A persuasive strategy directed to the audience's emotions, sense of humor, or deeply held loyalties and commitments

Appeal to authority

An appeal that urges compliance with the directive of a person, group, or document possessing power

Arguing comparative advantage

A response to a pragmatic argument or policy proposal; Arguing that an alternative course of action carries greater practical advantages than the proposed plan does

Arguing from correlation alone

A fallacy - assuming causation when there is only correlation

Arguing from ignorance

A fallacy - Falsely assuming that a conclusion can be reached on the basis of the absence of evidence. One form of this argument assumed that because something has not been disproved, it has therefore been proved.

Arguing from succession alone

A fallacy - attributing cause simply on the basis of one event preceding another. Also called "arguing post hoc," --> "after this, therefore because of this"

Argument

A claim advanced with a reason or reasons in its support

Argumentation

The cooperative activity of developing and advancing arguments and of responding to the arguments of others

Argumentative contexts

The spaces, venues, and relationships in which arguments are made and heard

Argumentative definition

A definition employed strategically to categorize an object or event so as to support a particular conclusion to an argument

Argument from direction

Argument that strings together two or more conditional statements to predict a remote result from a first step.

Example: If guns are registered --> no gun owner will be safe from the threat of confiscation

When guns are taken from private citizens --> they will have no defense against a gov't intent on denying other freedoms

Thus, laws that require registration of guns are the first step toward dictatorship

Argument from example

Argument that draws a conclusion about an entire class of objects or events based on a particular instance or a limited number of cases, rather than about a single member of a group.

AKA generalization

Argument from function

Argument that locates the essential nature of an object, event, or institution in its social or natural function

(contrast with an argument from intent)

Argument from intent

Argument that affirms that the meaning or essential nature of an object or document is revealed in the intended meaning of its authors or designers

(contrast with an argument from function)

Argument from principle

Argument that affirms that we should abide by values, principles, and duties, and avoid actions that violate the same

Argument from quality

Argument that affirms the inherent value in the unique, the beautiful, the rare, or the unusual

Argument from quantity

Argument that affirms numerical considerations as an index of significane

Argument from sign

Argument that reasons from an effect back to a cause

(not necessarily backwards reasoning)

Argument virtues

Moral qualities and skills that help people think and act morally in an argumentative situation, and thus pursue argumentation in a manner that promotes and improves its practices

Arrangement fallacy

A fallacy - creates a false impression by ordering, associating, or grouping items of evidence in a misleading way

Attitudinal inherency

In policy debate, the inherency that shows that current attitudes or beliefs contribute to the harms caused by the status quo

Attitudes as a reason for why something hasn't changed yet. Attitude as a barrier

Audience

The people for whom we develop our arguments

Audience analysis

Seeking an accurate sense of the nature of the audience so you can adapt your arguments to that audience

Biased testimony

Testimony from individuals who stand to gain if what they say is accepted

Burden of proof

In policy debate, the obligation to provide sufficient evidence in support of an assertion

Case

A series of arguments, all advanced to support the same general conclusion or set of conclusions

Categorical argument

Argument composed of three categorical statements - two statements that are reasons/premises, and one that is the conclusion.

AKA a categorical syllogism

Categorical statement

A statement that establishes a relationship between two categories, or classes, of objects

Causal agent

In a hypothesis, a testable element in the alleged cause that is capable of producing an observed effect

Causal generalization

An argument that affirms a causal relationship between two categories, or classes, of events

Circular definition

Definition of a term by reference only to factors inherent in or strongly implied by the definition itself

Civil disobedience

The intentional decision to disobey a law or directive of a government authority for moral reasons

Claim

A statement the advocate believes or is in the process of evaulating

Coherence

A test of narrative arguments that asks whether the components in a story create a meaningful and consistent whole

Common usage

As a source of definition, the meaning of a term in everyday language

Complementary reasons

A pair of reasons that must work together to lend support to their conclusion

Conclusion case

In an analogy, an instance in the argument about which a claim is being advanced

Conclusion relationship

In a figurative analogy - the relationship being urged in connection with the conclusion

Concurrent testimony

Testimony that is consistent with other available sources of testimony on that topic

Conditional argument

An argument built around an "if-then" statement or an equivalent.

AKA a hypothetical syllogism

Conditional statement

In a condition argument - the "if-then" statement

Connectives

Reasons that consist of beliefs, values, assumptions, or generalizations that link evidence to a conclusion

Consequent

The "then" clause in a conditional or "if-then" statement; an event that follows form or is a result of another event

Consideration

A possible response to an argument - an agreement to think about the argument further, to withhold any final judgment about its quality for the time being

Continuum Fallacy

A fallacy - a false assumption that qualitative changes along a line of progression do not occur if we cannot agree about exactly where such changes occur

Conversion

In a universal negative or particular affirmative statement, the process of switching the statement's subject and predicate terms in order to create an equivalent statement

Convertible statement

A statement in which the subject and predicate terms are distributed similarly. Universal negative and particular affirmative statements are convertible

Cooperation

As a virtue of ethical advocacy, a willingness to engage the argumentative process so that a rational resolution of the issues can be acheived

Correlated

Occurring together with regularity

Courage in argument

As a virtue of ethical advocacy, a willingness to accept the risks associated with open advocacy of one's position, even when that position is unpopular or dangerous

Credibility

Test of evidence - a source's reputation for accuracy and reliability

Criteria of evaluation

The standards on which a value judgment is based

Cross-examination

In policy debate, respondents raising questions about the kinds of considerations implied in the stock issues

Cues

Words or phrases that signal something, other than a reason or a conclusion, about the content of an argument

Dangerous precedent

A basis for a series of undesirable exceptions for similar cases

Deductive arguments

Arguments that lead to necessary conclusions when their reasons are true.

Typical structure: moving from a general principle (major premise) and a more specific observation (minor premise) to a conclusion that applies the general principle to the particular case

Define

To advance a meaning for a word or to classify an object, person, or act

Definition report

A definition that all parties to a debate agree upon, or that states a generally accepted or agreed-upon meaning

Demographic analysis

A type of audience analysis - an effort to create a picture of the audience that focuses on descriptive information such as age, race, gender, and economic status

Diagramming

A tool of argument analysis that involved mapping an argument, using only the letters assigned during scanning, and drawing lines from reasons to the conclusion they support

Dialogic perspectives

Ethical perspectives that elevate efforts to preserve the two-sidedness of public discourse

Digital literacy

The capacity to skillfully navigate and employ online resources

Dilemma

A strategy of argument that forces a choice between limited and undesirable options

Disadvantages

In policy debate - unintended negative consequences of the proposed plan that outweigh any claimed advantages

Stated during the first negative constructive

Disjunctive argument

An argument that presents limited options: two enumerated alternatives, or disjuncts, often marked by an "either-or" statement

Dispositional analysis

Audience analysis aimed at discovering audience attitudes toward your topic and perhaps toward you as an advocate

Distinction without a difference

A definition that suggests that a category exists, without adequately explaining how objects in this category differ from objects in similar categories

Distributed term

In a categorical argument, a term that, in a statement, refers to every member of the category it represents

Editorial process

A check on the quality of research published in a periodical; careful review of submitted research reports

Emotional appeal

Engaging the audience's emotions for the purpose of persuasion.

AKA pathos

End terms

In a categorical argument, the two terms that appear once in a reason and once in the conclusion

Enthymeme

Aristotle's term for a truncated or abbreviated categorical argument, missing one or more of the basic components, such as a reason or conclusion

Enumeration argument

An argument that sets out alternative explanations or options and then follows a process of elimination

Equivocation

A problem of definition - changing meaning of a key term in the course of an argument

Essential nature argument

An argument that focuses on the "essence" or unchanging nature of an organization, object, person, entity, or work of art

Etymology

The origin of a word (as a source of definition)

Euphemism

A strategy of definition; a less objectionable and often less accurate term exchanged for a harsh, condemning, or emotionally charged term

Evidence

A reason rooted in observation

Evidence case

In a literal analogy, a familiar or widely established instance that is used as the basis for the argument

Evidence relationship

In a figurative analogy, the familiar relationship pair that is used as support for the conclusion

Exclusive disjuncts

In a disjunctive argument, two alternatives that cannot both be true at the same time

AKA mutually exclusive possibilites

Expert testimony

The judgment or opinion of a qualified specialist in a discipline about matters relevant to that discipline

Extent of the generalization

In a generalization form a sample, the portion of the population that is said to exhibit a particular property

External consistency

A test of evidence - the requirement that evidence must not be sharply at odds with either the majority of evidence from other sources or with the best evidence from other sources

Fact

A claim that can potentially be verified as either true or false

Proposition of fact

A statement that reports, describes, predicts, or makes a causal claim

Fallacy

An argument that is invalid or otherwise so seriously flawed as to render it unreliable

Fallacy of hasty generalization

A fallacy - a generalization based on a sample that is too small to support it.

AKA a flawed argument of example

Fallible sign

An effect with more than one possible cause, though one cause is typical