Practical Argumentation

chyog - George K. Pattee

Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe
Tout savoir sur nos offres

346 pages

English

Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe
Tout savoir sur nos offres

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Informations

Publié par	chyog
Publié le	08 décembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	35
Langue	English

Extrait

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Practical
Argumentation, by George K. Pattee
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be
sure to check the copyright laws for your country
before downloading or redistributing this or any
other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when
viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not
remove it. Do not change or edit the header
without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other
information about the eBook and Project
Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and
restrictions in how the file may be used. You can
also find out about how to make a donation to
Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla
Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By
Computers, Since 1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands
of Volunteers!*****
Title: Practical ArgumentationAuthor: George K. Pattee
Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6473]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of
schedule] [This file was first posted on December
18, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG
EBOOK PRACTICAL ARGUMENTATION ***
Produced by Scott Pfenninger, Charles Franks and
the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
PRACTICAL
ARGUMENTATIONPRACTICAL
ARGUMENTATION
BY GEORGE K. PATTEE, A.M.
Assistant Professor of English and Rhetoric in The
Pennsylvania State College
TO FRED LEWIS
PATTEE
PrefaceThe author's aim has been to produce a book that
is practical,— practical from the student's
standpoint, and practical from the teacher's
standpoint. The study of Argumentation has often
been criticized for being purely academic, or for
being a mere stepping- stone to the study of law. It
has even been said that courses in Argumentation
and Debate have been introduced into American
colleges and universities for no other purpose than
to give the intellectual student the opportunity, so
long monopolized by his athletic classmate, to take
part in intercollegiate contests. The purpose of this
book is to teach Argumentation, which is not a
science by itself but one of the four branches of
Rhetoric, in such a way as to remove these
criticisms.
Largely by his choice of illustrative material the
author has endeavored to show that this subject is
confined neither to the class room nor to any one
profession. He has drawn his illustrations, for the
most part, from contemporary and popular
sources; he has had recourse to many current
magazines, newspapers, books, and recent
speeches, hoping to show thereby that
Argumentation is a practical subject. On the other
hand, he has carefully avoided taking a majority of
his illustrations either from students' work or from
legal practice, criminal cases especially being
seldom used on the ground that although they
afford the easiest examples a writer can give, they
furnish the least help to the average student, who,
unless he studies law, will rarely, perhaps never,
have occasion to argue upon such subjects.This book cannot justly be called the effort of a
single author. It is rather an outgrowth of the work
that for many years has been carried on by the
English department at The Pennsylvania State
College. The book has, in fact, gradually developed
in the class room. Every rule that is given has been
tested time and again; every step has been
carefully thought out and taught for several years.
The author wishes to acknowledge especial
indebtedness to Professor Fred Lewis Pattee, who
both inspired the writing of the book and assisted in
the work. To Professor A. Howry Espenshade are
due many thanks for invaluable suggestions and
advice, and for a careful reading of the greater part
of the manuscript. Mr. William S. Dye is also to be
thanked for valuable assistance. As a student the
author studied Baker's Principles of Argumentation;
as a teacher he has taught Laycock and Scales'
Argumentation and Debate, Alden's The Art of
Debate, and Foster's Argumentation and Debating.
The debt he owes to these is beyond estimate.
STATE COLLEGE, PA. March 17, 1909
Contents
I. Preliminaries
II. The SubjectIII. The Introduction—Persuasion
IV. The Introduction—Conviction
V. The Introduction—Brief-Drawing
VI. The Discussion—Conviction and Persuasion
VII. The Discussion—Brief-Drawing
VIII. Methods of Refutation
IX. Debate—Some Practical Suggestions
X. The Conclusion
APPENDIX.
A. A Written Argument and its Brief
B. A List of Propositions
PRACTICAL
ARGUMENTATIONPRACTICAL
ARGUMENTATION
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARIES
Argumentation is the art of presenting truth so that
others will accept it and act in accordance with it.
Debate is a special form of argumentation: it is oral
argumentation carried on by opposing sides.
A consideration of the service which argumentation
performs shows that it is one of the noblest and
most useful of arts. By argumentation men
overthrow error and discover truth. Courts of law,
deliberative assemblies, and all bodies of people
that engage in discussion recognize this fact.
Argumentation threshes out a problem until the
chaff has blown away, when it is easy to see just
what kernels of truth remain and what action ought
to be taken. Men of affairs, before entering upon
any great enterprise, call in advocates of differentsystems, and by becoming familiar with arguments
from every point of view try to discover what is
best. This method of procedure presupposes a
difference of opinion and belief among men, and
holds that when each one tries to establish his
ideas, the truth will remain, and that which is false
will be swept away.
The field of argumentation includes every kind of
discourse that attempts to change man's actions or
opinions. Exposition is explanation when only one
theory or one interpretation of the facts is possible;
when views of truth or of policy conflict, and one
course is expounded in opposition to another, the
process becomes argumentation. This art is used
not only by professional speakers, but by men of
every occupation. The schoolboy pleading for a
holiday, the workman seeking employment, the
statesman advocating a principle of government
are all engaged in some form of argumentation.
Everywhere that men meet together, on the street
or in the assembly hall, debate is certain to arise.
Written argument is no less common. Hardly a
periodical is published but contains argumentative
writing. The fiery editorial that urges voters to the
polls, the calm and polished essay that points out
the dangers of organized labor, the scientific
treatise that demonstrates the practicability of a
sea-level canal on the Isthmus are attempts to
change existing conditions and ideas, and thus
come within the field of argumentation.
The practical benefit to be derived from the study
and application of the principles of argumentationcan hardly be overestimated. The man who wishes
to influence the opinions and actions of others, who
wishes to become a leader of men in however
great or however humble a sphere, must be
familiar with this art. The editor, the lawyer, the
merchant, the contractor, the laborer—men in
every walk of life—depend for their success upon
bringing others to believe, in certain instances, as
they believe. Everywhere men who can point out
what is right and best, and can bring others to see
it and act upon it, win the day. Another benefit to
be obtained from the study of argumentation is the
ability to be convinced intelligently. The good
arguer is not likely to be carried away by specious
arguments or fallacious reasoning. He can weigh
every bit of evidence; he can test the strength and
weakness of every statement; he can separate the
essential from the unessential; and he can
distinguish between prejudice and reason. A
master of the art of argumentation can both
present his case convincingly to others, and
discover the truth in a matter that is presented to
him.
Argumentation can hardly be considered as a
distinct art standing by itself; it is rather a
composite of several arts, deriving its
fundamentals from them, and depending upon
them for its existence. In the first place, since
argumentation is spoken or written discourse, it
belongs to rhetoric, and the rules which govern
composition apply to it as strongly as to any other
kind of expression. In fact, perhaps rhetorical
principles should be observed in argumentation