Advocacy and Debate Prelim #1

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Advocacy and Debate study notes, including fallacies, argument types, and elements of the Toulmin model.

Acceptance

One possible response to an argument; the agreement to accept the argument as accepted; that is, to find it persuasive, or at least lacking in any major flaw

Accessibility

As a test of evidence, the availability of evidence for examination

Activism

An advocate for public action to draw attention to a persistent problem that has not yielded to conventional forms of argument

Adequacy

As a test of evidence, whether the evidence presented, when taken together, is sufficient to support its claim

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-cal ling and labeling

Ad populum fallacy

Appealing to the audience and its interests rather than to the merits of the argument

Advocacy

The activity of promoting or opposing an idea in public settings

A fortiori argument

A 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

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

The "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 advantages

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

Arguing from correlation alone

A fal lacy; attributing cause simply on the basis of events occurring or varying simultaneously

Arguing from ignorance

A fal lacy; falsely assuming that a conclusion can be reached on the basis of the absence of evidence. One form of this argument assumes that because something has not been disproved, it has therefore been proved.

Arguing from succession alone

A fal lacy; attributing cause simply on the basis of one event preceding another. Also cal led "arguing post hoc," an abbreviation of the Latin phrase, post hoc ergo propter hoc, which means "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 strategical ly to categorize an object or event so as to support a particular conclusion to an argument

Argument from direction

An argument that strings together two or more conditional statements to predict a final result from a first step

Argument from example

An 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

Argument from function

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

Argument from intent

An argument that affirms that the meaning or essential nature of an object or document is found in the intended meaning of its authors or designers

Argument from principle

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

Argument from quality

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

Argument from quantity

An argument that affirms numerical considerations as an indication of significance

Argument from sign

An argument that reasons from an effect back to a cause

Argument virtues

Those moral qualities and skil ls that help people think and act moral ly in an argu- mentative situation, and thus pursue argumentation in a manner that promotes and improves its practices

Arrangement fallacy

The fal lacy that creates a false impression by ordering, associating, or grouping items of evidence in a misleading way

Attitudinal inherency

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

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

Backing

A foundational assumption or presupposition that supports a warrant (Toulmin model)

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, al l advanced to support the same general contention or set of conclusions

Categorical argument

An argument composed of three categorical statements- two statements that are its reasons, or premises, and one that is its conclusion. Also cal led categorical syl logism

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 al leged 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

A 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

The assertion being advanced (Toulmin model). A statement the advocate believes or is in the process of evaluating

Coherence

A test of narrative arguments that asks whether the components in a story create a whole 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 conclu- sion

Conclusion

A claim that has been reached by a process of reasoning

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 the topic

Conditional argument

An argument built around an "if-then" statement or an equivalent. Also cal led a hypothetical syl logism

Conditional statement

The "if-then" statement in a conditional argument

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 fol lows from or is a result of another event

Consideration

One possible response to an argument; an agreement to think about the argument further, to withhold any final judgement about its quality for the time being

Conspiracy theory

An outlandish explanation of a widely reported event or situation, marked by suspicion of established power and in sharp contrast to standard explanations

Continuum 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

Control group

As one means of assessing a causal generalization; a group, paral leling the experiment group, in which the suspected causal agent is withheld or eliminated

Conversion

In a universal negative or particular affirmative statement, the process of switching the state- ment'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 wil lingness to engage the argumentative process so that a rational resolution of the issues can be achieved

Correlated

Occurring together with regularity

Courage in argument

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

Credibility

As a test of evidence, a source's reputation for accuracy and reliability

Criteria of evaluation

The standards on which a value judgment is based

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 similarly exceptional cases

Data

The evidence presented in support of a claim (Toulmin model)

Deductive arguments

Arguments that lead to necessary conclusions when their reasons are true. The typical structure involves moving from a general principle (major premise) and a more specific observation (minor premise) to a conclusion that applies the general principle to a particular case

Define

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

Definition report

A noncontroversial definition that al l parties to a debate agree upon, or that states a general ly accepted or agreed upon meaning

Demographic analysis

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

Diagramming

A tool of argument analysis that consists of 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 skil lful ly navigate and employ online resources

Dilemma

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

Disinformation

Knowingly circulated false evidence

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 explain- ing 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 of objects it represents

Editorial process

A careful review of submitted research reports that provides an important check on the quality of research published in a periodical

Emotional appeal

Engaging the audience's emotions for the purpose of persuasion

End terms

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

Enthymeme

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

Enumeration argument

An argument that sets out alternative explanations or options and then fol lows 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

As a source of definition, the origin of a word

Euphemism

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

Ina 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

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 from a sample, the portion of the population that is said to exhibit the particular property

External consistency

As 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 potential ly be verified as either true or false