COM 203 Argument & Analysis - F24 PDF

COM 203: Argument & Analysis Professor Buddy Allman CHAPTER 10  The Rhetorical Perspective Logos, pathos, ethos, burritos… wait a minute, scratch that last one. CHAPTER 10  The Rhetorical Perspective holds that arguments are viewed as a...

COM 203: Argument & Analysis Professor Buddy Allman CHAPTER 10  The Rhetorical Perspective Logos, pathos, ethos, burritos… wait a minute, scratch that last one. CHAPTER 10  The Rhetorical Perspective holds that arguments are viewed as appeals to an audience, and we must take account of the circumstances in which the argument is made and the strategies used to influence its audience.  Focuses on addressing the needs and interests of the recipient(s) in a way that persuades them to accept the argument  Arguments should be relevant and persuasive to the intended audience CHAPTER 10  This approach goes back to Aristotle:  Aristotle (384 BCE to 322 BCE) ▪ An important Greek philosopher who lived in 5th century BCE and wrote about the nature of communication ▪ Student of Plato ▪ Founded the Lyceum, perhaps the most famous school of rhetoric It’s all Greek to me… CHAPTER 10  Rhetoric:The name given by the Greek philosophers to the study of communication. It generally focused on effective ways to persuade an audience.  A student or teacher of rhetoric is called a rhetorician. CHAPTER 10  In rhetoric, persuasion of audiences can be achieved using three tools:  1. Logos: the logical dimension of the appeal (Logic) ▪ Greek: “Word”  2. Pathos: the emotional dimension of the appeal ▪ Can influence the audience’s disposition toward the topic, the occasion, or the speaker ▪ Greek: “Suffering” (Pathetic) or “Sensation”  3. Ethos: consisting of the speaker’s credibility (Ethics) ▪ The more believable, honest, and learned the speaker is, the more persuasive the message ▪ Greek: “Character” CHAPTER 10  Persuading your Audience (Pathos)  The Narrative Paradigm  The Narrative Paradigm proposes that we experience life as a series of narrative (story) events, which shape our understanding of the world, our beliefs, and our values. ▪ Stories teach us about history, ethics, and cultural/ personal codes, shaping our values and our perspectives of our world, our cultures, and ourselves CHAPTER 10  Historical narratives  Myths/ Legends/ Parables  Anecdotes CHAPTER 10  Narratives are assessed by us via two tools:  Narrative Probability: Tests whether a story is coherent ▪ Does the story make sense?  Narrative Fidelity: Tests whether the story matches up with our values, our life experiences, or with our social reality ▪ Does the story “ring true?” ▪ Is the story consistent with other stories we accept as true?  Both tools require knowledge of your audience CHAPTER 10  Persuasion Principles  There are three basic ways to compel audience agreement:  1. Compliance: The use of rewards and punishments by a powerful source to get recipients to believe or act in a certain manner. ▪ Complying with the request earns compensation, failure to comply earns penalty ▪ Independent of argument CHAPTER 10  2. Identification: Influence that occurs because people find a source attractive and wish to enhance their own self- concept by establishing a relationship with the source. ▪ People identify with others they admire or are attracted to ▪ Often used in advertising ▪ Not related to the argument’s content, but simply to how well they like the source CHAPTER 10  3. Internalization: The process in which people accept an argument by thinking about it and by integrating it into their cognitive systems. ▪ Arguments “won” by either compliance or identification tend to diminish when the message source loses its power or attractiveness ▪ Arguments won via internalization often persist and are maintained ▪ Linked mostly to a message’s content, but also to the source’s credibility (Ethos) CHAPTER 10  Credibility (Ethos)  Expertise: Possessing a background of knowledge and information relevant to the argument being made and/ or the subject matter under discussion. ▪ Expertise is often difficult for students: ▪ Topics are often unfamiliar ▪ The audience knows little or nothing about the arguer CHAPTER 10  Trustworthiness: The condition which causes people to believe the arguer is motivated to tell them the truth. ▪ Can be created by way of appearance, comportment, eloquence, vocabulary, and/ or dynamism ▪ Dynamism: A social science term for strong delivery that creates the impression with the audience that the arguer has practiced his or her argument and thus cares about what he or she is talking about CHAPTER 10  Enhancing Credibility  1. Show the audience that you (the arguer) and the evidence sources have experience with the topic  2. Use as many qualified sources as possible  3. Use sources that your recipients are likely to respect  4. Use sound reasoning CHAPTER 10  5. Demonstrate fairness  6. Use reluctant testimony ▪ Reluctant Testimony is made by sources that speak against their own vested interest.  7. Avoid inconsistency CHAPTER 10  Three Ways to Lose Credibility:  1. Lying to the audience is damaging to ethos ▪ a. Lying by Commission: Willfully making untrue statements to your audience ▪ b. Lying by Omission: When the speaker willfully chooses not to acknowledge facts about his or her argument that might damage its effectiveness CHAPTER 10  2. Manipulation: The deliberate misrepresentation of facts and/ or evidence to the audience  3. Coercion: The use of force or threats of harm to make someone do something against their will ▪ Can be either physical or emotional threats CHAPTER 10 A Caveat: Using nothing but emotional appeals during an attempt to influence is generally distracting and often viewed as unethical CHAPTER 6  Reasoning Categories (Logos revisited)  Reasoning via Quasilogical Arguments  Quasilogical Arguments place two or three elements in a relation to one another so as to make the connection between them similar to the connections in formal logic.  Formulaic and thus are similar to syllogisms  Rhetorical and co-orientational; they take the recipients’ willingness to accept the probability that the conclusion is true into account CHAPTER 6  Transitivity Arguments: Similar to (and constructed like) categorical syllogisms, but the relationships among terms are less certain ▪ If A = B AND B = C, then A = C  Example: (Major Premise) All coal use in energy damages the environment. (Minor Premise) “Clean” coal is a type of coal. (Conclusion) Therefore, “clean” coal use will damage the environment. CHAPTER 6  Incompatibilities: Similar to disjunctive syllogisms, they imply two alternatives between which a choice must be made ▪ You must choose one or the other, but not both  Example: (Major) We must either stop using fossil fuels or risk climate change. (Minor) We are not stopping fossil fuel use. (Conclusion) Therefore, we risk climate change. CHAPTER 6  Reciprocities: Similar to hypothetical syllogisms, they reflect the “if – then” nature of the argument. ▪ If you do X, you will get Y  Example: (Major) If we elect George O’Brien, then he will lower taxes. (Minor) We elected George O’Brien. (Conclusion) So, he lowered our taxes. CHAPTER 6  Reasoning by Analogy  Because two concepts resemble each other in certain known respects, they will also resemble each other in unknown respects ▪ Literal Analogy: Comparing two objects of the same class that share many characteristics and concluding that a known characteristic possessed by one object is shared by the other. ▪ Example: If a law works in their state, a similar law will work in our state under the same circumstances CHAPTER 6  Figurative Analogy: Comparing two objects of different classes in which a relationship or quality within one is said to be similar to a relationship or quality within the other. ▪ Example: If we ignore climate change, we are essentially taking a room in which we continuously light matches and filling it with gas CHAPTER 6  Reasoning by Generalization/ Example  Generalization: what is true of certain members of a class will also be true of other members of the same class, or of the class as a whole. ▪ If X is true of this thing, then X is likely true of other things, or even all things, in the same category ▪ Example: I watched five different reality shows last year, and in every one of them, the female participants were constantly being shown as catty and vindictive, and were obsessed with money, their looks, and with marrying a rich man. I believe that most, if not all, reality shows present women in a negative manner. I’m watching something else. CHAPTER 6  Related is Reasoning by Example: Arguments seeking acceptance for some general rule or principle by offering a particular concrete case.  Example: Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire depicts women negatively, so I’d bet all similar reality shows do, too.  Readpp. 171-176 for ways to test analogies CHAPTER 6  Reasoning by Cause  Causal arguments claim that one condition or event contributes to or brings about another condition or event. CHAPTER 6  1. Necessary Condition: One condition must be present for the other to occur. ▪ Example: In order to live, one must eat. ▪ A “weak” form: for instance, food does not cause life, it is merely necessary for it  2. Sufficient Condition: A circumstance in whose presence the event or effect must occur. ▪ Example: Throwing gasoline on a fire will cause an explosion. ▪ A “strong” form: the presence of a sufficient condition guarantees the subsequent effect will occur  Remember, correlations can be used to imply a cause/ effect relationship, but a correlation does not actually show cause! CHAPTER 6  Reasoning by Coexistential Arguments  Coexistential arguments reason from something that can be observed (a sign) to a condition or feature that cannot be observed.  Example: My “check engine” light came on in my car (a sign). Something must be wrong with it (a condition). CHAPTER 6  Related to this is the Argument from Authority: An argument that reasons that statements made by someone presumed knowledgeable about a particular issue can be taken as evidence sufficient to justify a claim.  Related to credibility (ethos)  Example: A team of neuroscientists demonstrate in their latest study that playing football for years results in damaged brain tissue and cognitive problems CHAPTER 6  Dissociation  Dissociation arguments disengage one idea from another and seek a new evaluation of both ideas.  Unlike the other forms of reasoning in that it disengages ideas instead of associating them  Utilizes hierarchal language as a reasoning tool; we value the real over the subjective and the permanent over the temporary  “Not this, but THIS.”  Example: “We should judge people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) CHAPTER 6 TOGA PARTY!