Thought & Argument

presenting an argument

• arouse sympathy
• appeal to pity - use bare facts
• appeal to authority - show where authorities people agree with you
• person must not be seen as liar
• present authorities considered "disinterested" in argument
• authority must be considered conscientious
• authority should be well known
• authority must be expert in relevant field (celebrity may negate need)
• authorities should be both current and historical
• authority cited should have opinion which is representative of general expertise in field
• authorities should be as numerous and diverse as possible
• appeal to tradition ad populum - appeal to an ideal to which folks aspire
• appeal to precedent - appeal to previous incident (can be dangerous - instantly alienates some of the audience)
• presenting facts
• statistics (a half-truth is better than no truth at all)
• make sure they come from a reliable source
• use the part that suits your case
• show the majority support your opinion
• large number impress folks more than small numbers
• you can discount or dismiss small numbers
• theoretical constructs (abstract concepts used to explain raw data)
• classification (theoretical construct is one method of classifying data)
• avoid "all" and "some"
• continuum - fuzzy lines vs. hard numbers
• golden mean - general wisdom holds the mean between two extremes is most desirable
• definition
• analogy - claiming similarities between two items
• drive home conclusion
• keywords
• obviously
• certainly
• there is no question that...
• of course
• surely
• it is clearly evident that...
• evidence and conclusion are related
• generalization to specific
• specific to generalization (often with statistical info)
• use emotive language

attacking an argument

• your opponent has been successful
• moral posturing - only effective if you're the underdog
• audience remains undecided
• attack where weak, avoid where strong
• your opponent has been unsuccessful
• pinpoint where opponent has failed
• ad hominem - attack the presenter of the argument instead of the argument
• genetic fallacy - describe how the position came to be (case history)

refuting an argument

• find argument inconsistent with objective facts
• look for false reasons or premises
• false fact or logic
• conclusion does not follow
• false implications or results
• find an argument internally self-contradictory
• refuting an appeal to pity
• appeal follows form "because of X, then Y" - maybe "because of X, then not Y
• if appeal to pity worked, audience is sympathetic that kind of appeal - make higher appeal
• refuting an appeal to authority
• find other authorities
• attack the authorities themselves (ad hominem)
• if authority has opinions inconsistent with appeals to pity, pounce on it
• if authority has connections to a group hostile to authority, use guilt by association
• point out the distinction between theory and practice
• an authority dealing in extreme abstractions - difference between theory and fact
• quote out of context
• general attack on expertise - appeal to more general truth
• refuting an appeal to tradition (ad populum)
• invoke a tradition that supports your argument or attacks the opponents
• attack the concept of appealing to tradition
• refuting an appeal to precedent
• find a different precedent
• show significant differences or extenuating circumstances
• refuting statistics
• show information to be incorrect
• show information to be misinterpreted
• show information based on a non-random sample - find any possible variable that was overlooked
• attack the concept of statistics "there are lies, damned lies, and statistics"
• refuting theoretical constructs
• most people dislike abstract concepts
• show that no abstract term can be directly applied to an observable thing
• refuting of classification
• it doesn't fit at all
• it fits in more than one place
• refuting a definition
• if opponent used a non-standard definition, point it out
• look for circular arguments
• refuting of analogies
• since analogies can only be partially similiar, look for differences and exploit them

attacking a conclusion

• translate words to similiar ones with negative connotations
• discriminate - prejudice
• alteration - radical innovation
• existing order - antiquated prejudice
• protective custody - thrown into a dungeon
• religous zeal - fanaticism
• law and order - political repression
• dismiss conclusion or categorize it emotively with something generally rejected by the audience
• attack the transition from evidence to conclusion - look for logical fallacies
• hasty generalization
• composition (properties of a part are not nessecarily the properties of a whole)
• division (a property of the part is not nessecarily the property of the whole)
• accident (where one general principal shouldn't take precendence over another)
• characterizing the conclusion (build a dilemma)
• if A then B
• if C then D
• either A or C... therefore
• either B or D

defending your position

• never admit defeat
• refuse to be convinced
• retain your self confidence
• do not underestimate your opposition
• a defense is also an attack
• counter-attacks
• statement of your case
• all or nothing mistake
• appeal to ignorance - if they can't disprove it, it must be right
• statistics
• defense of generalizations
• the exception is irrelevant
• claim that the exception is not really an exception
• charge of hasty generalization - "the exception proves the rule"

winning the argument

• damning the alternative
• if offered an explicity alternative, attack it
• if offered an implicit alternative, expose it and attack it
• if there is no alternative, your way must be the only way
• ad hominem - attack the man, not the argument
• if offered an explicity alternative, attack it
• if offered an implicit alternative, expose it and attack it
• if there is no alternative, your way must be the only way

Questions to ask (Socratic Questions)

• Questions for Clarification
• What do you mean by _____ ?
• What is your main point?
• How does _____ relate to _____ ?
• Could you put it another way?
• What do you think is the main issue here?
• Let me see if I understand you: do you mean _____ or _____?
• [A], could you summarize what [B] just said in your own words?
• [B], is this what you meant?
• Could you give me an example?
• Would this be an exmaple: _____ ?
• Could you explain that further?
• Questions about the initial issue or Initial Question
• How can we find out?
• What does this question assume?
• Would _____ put the question differently?
• Can we break this question down at all?
• Does this question lead to other questions or issues?
• Questions that probe assumptions
• What are you assuming?
• What could we assume instead?
• You seem to be assuming _____. Do I understand you correctly?
• How would you justify taking this for granted?
• Is this always the case?
• Why do you think the assumption holds true here?
• Questions that probe reasons and evidence
• What would be an example?
• Could you explain your reasons to us?
• Are those reasons adequate?
• Do you have any evidence for that?
• How could we find out if that is true?
• Questions that proobe source questions or origin
• Where did you get this idea?
• Have you been influenced by the media?
• What caused you to feel this way?
• Questions that probe implications or consequences
• What are you implying by that?
• What effect would that have?
• What is an alternative?
• If this is the case, then what else must be true?
• Questions about viewpoints or perspectives
• How would other groups of people respond? Why?
• How could you answer the objection that _____ would make?
• Can anyone see this another way?
• What would someone who disagrees say?