Arguments about Arguments

Arguments about Arguments
Author: Maurice A. Finocchiaro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2005-07-25
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521853279

This book brings together essays by one of the pre-eminent scholars of informal logic.

Arguments and Arguing

Arguments and Arguing
Author: Thomas A. Hollihan
Publisher: Waveland Press
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2022-05-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1478649240

Arguing is a fundamental human activity; it is a process of making sense of the world and negotiating understandings with others. Arguing can be—and often is—healthy for both relationships and societies. The values of the community are shaped through people sharing their opinions, offering reasons in support of their beliefs, and deliberating. Hollihan and Baaske present techniques for effective analysis, logical reasoning, and socially constructive argumentation. They illustrate their discussions of theory and practice with multiple engaging examples. The book focuses on narrative—argument as a story backed by evidence to evaluate courses of action or to resolve conflicts. A chapter on visual argumentation highlights the power of visual elements in arguments. Effective arguing requires a sensitivity to the demands of different argumentative contexts. Readers will become familiar with the elements of argument essential for politics, the law, debate, business, and relationships. Narrative arguments are rational arguments. Learning about the narrative reasoning process helps us tell more convincing, credible, and compassionate stories—and to become better critics of the stories we hear.

300 Arguments

300 Arguments
Author: Sarah Manguso
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Total Pages: 105
Release: 2017-02-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1555979599

A brilliant and exhilarating sequence of aphorisms from one of our greatest essayists There will come a time when people decide you’ve had enough of your grief, and they’ll try to take it away from you. Bad art is from no one to no one. Am I happy? Damned if I know, but give me a few minutes and I’ll tell you whether you are. Thank heaven I don’t have my friends’ problems. But sometimes I notice an expression on one of their faces that I recognize as secret gratitude. I read sad stories to inoculate myself against grief. I watch action movies to identify with the quick-witted heroes. Both the same fantasy: I’ll escape the worst of it. —from 300 Arguments A “Proustian minimalist on the order of Lydia Davis” (Kirkus Reviews), Sarah Manguso is one of the finest literary artists at work today. To read her work is to witness acrobatic acts of compression in the service of extraordinary psychological and spiritual insight. 300 Arguments, a foray into the frontier of contemporary nonfiction writing, is at first glance a group of unrelated aphorisms. But, as in the work of David Markson, the pieces reveal themselves as a masterful arrangement that steadily gathers power. Manguso’s arguments about desire, ambition, relationships, and failure are pithy, unsentimental, and defiant, and they add up to an unexpected and renegade wisdom literature.

The Logic of Real Arguments

The Logic of Real Arguments
Author: Alec Fisher
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2004-09-23
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521654814

Publisher Description

An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments: Learn the Lost Art of Making Sense (Bad Arguments)

An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments: Learn the Lost Art of Making Sense (Bad Arguments)
Author: Ali Almossawi
Publisher: The Experiment, LLC
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2014-09-23
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1615192263

“This short book makes you smarter than 99% of the population. . . . The concepts within it will increase your company’s ‘organizational intelligence.’. . . It’s more than just a must-read, it’s a ‘have-to-read-or-you’re-fired’ book.”—Geoffrey James, INC.com From the author of An Illustrated Book of Loaded Language, here’s the antidote to fuzzy thinking, with furry animals! Have you read (or stumbled into) one too many irrational online debates? Ali Almossawi certainly had, so he wrote An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments! This handy guide is here to bring the internet age a much-needed dose of old-school logic (really old-school, a la Aristotle). Here are cogent explanations of the straw man fallacy, the slippery slope argument, the ad hominem attack, and other common attempts at reasoning that actually fall short—plus a beautifully drawn menagerie of animals who (adorably) commit every logical faux pas. Rabbit thinks a strange light in the sky must be a UFO because no one can prove otherwise (the appeal to ignorance). And Lion doesn’t believe that gas emissions harm the planet because, if that were true, he wouldn’t like the result (the argument from consequences). Once you learn to recognize these abuses of reason, they start to crop up everywhere from congressional debate to YouTube comments—which makes this geek-chic book a must for anyone in the habit of holding opinions.

Just the Arguments

Just the Arguments
Author: Michael Bruce
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2011-08-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1444344412

Does the existence of evil call into doubt the existence of God? Show me the argument. Philosophy starts with questions, but attempts at answers are just as important, and these answers require reasoned argument. Cutting through dense philosophical prose, 100 famous and influential arguments are presented in their essence, with premises, conclusions and logical form plainly identified. Key quotations provide a sense of style and approach. Just the Arguments is an invaluable one-stop argument shop. A concise, formally structured summation of 100 of the most important arguments in Western philosophy The first book of its kind to present the most important and influential philosophical arguments in a clear premise/conclusion format, the language that philosophers use and students are expected to know Offers succinct expositions of key philosophical arguments without bogging them down in commentary Translates difficult texts to core arguments Designed to provides a quick and compact reference to everything from Aquinas’ “Five Ways” to prove the existence of God, to the metaphysical possibilities of a zombie world

What Is the Argument?

What Is the Argument?
Author: Maralee Harrell
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2016-10-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0262529270

Exploring philosophy through detailed argument analyses of texts by philosophers from Plato to Strawson using a novel and transparent method of analysis. The best way to introduce students to philosophy and philosophical discourse is to have them read and wrestle with original sources. This textbook explores philosophy through detailed argument analyses of texts by philosophers from Plato to Strawson. It presents a novel and transparent method of analysis that will teach students not only how to understand and evaluate philosophers' arguments but also how to construct such arguments themselves. Students will learn to read a text and discover what the philosopher thinks, why the philosopher thinks it, and whether the supporting argument is good. Students learn argument analysis through argument diagrams, with color-coding of the argument's various elements—conclusion, claims, and “indicator phrases.” (An online “mini-course” in argument diagramming and argument diagramming software are both freely available online.) Each chapter ends with exercises and reading questions. After a general introduction to philosophy and logic and an explanation of argument analysis, the book presents selections from primary sources, arranged by topics that correspond to contemporary debates, with detailed analysis and evaluation. These topics include philosophy of religion, epistemology, theory of mind, free will and determinism, and ethics; authors include Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Ryle, Fodor, Dennett, Searle, and others. What Is the Argument? not only introduces students to great philosophical thinkers, it also teaches them the essential skill of critical thinking.

Arguments and Arguing

Arguments and Arguing
Author: Thomas A. Hollihan
Publisher: Waveland Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2015-11-17
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1478632011

The latest edition of Arguments and Arguing contains the same balance of theory and practice, breadth of coverage, current and relevant examples, and accessible writing style that made previous editions so popular in hundreds of classrooms. The authors draw from classic and recent argumentation theory and research, contextualized with well-chosen examples, to showcase a narrative style of argumentation and the values and attitudes of audiences. Readers learn how to employ both formal and informal argumentative strategies in an array of communication forums—from interpersonal interactions to academic debate to politics to business. A newly added chapter on visual argumentation and a striking color photo insert demonstrate the value and power of visual elements in the construction of arguments. The ability to argue is necessary if people are to solve problems, resolve conflicts, and evaluate alternative courses of action. While many are taught that arguing is counterproductive and arguments should be avoided, Hollihan and Baaske illustrate that arguing is an essential and fundamental human activity. Learning the art of effective argumentation entails a grasp of not only the strategies and principles of analysis and logical reasoning but also the importance of arguing in a positive and socially constructive fashion.

Understanding Arguments

Understanding Arguments
Author: Robert J. Fogelin
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
Total Pages: 452
Release: 1991
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780155926721

The Uses of Argument

The Uses of Argument
Author: Stephen E. Toulmin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2003-07-07
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521534833

"In spite of initial criticisms from logicians and fellow philosophers, The Uses of Argument has been an enduring source of inspiration and discussion to students of argumentation from all kinds of disciplinary background for more than forty years. " Frans van Eemeren, University of Amsterdam