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Argumentation: inquiry and advocacy
This book presents a coherent introduction to the fundamental concepts of argumentation and debate, argumentation theory, and critical thinking. As the title suggests, the reader learns how to use argumentation effectively as a means of discovering what is worthy of belief and for gaining the support of others. Now comprised of nineteen in-depth chapters, this best-selling book offers a broad view of argumentation. The first two sections explain the field invariant concepts of critical inquiry. These chapters feature such concepts as propositions, data, inductive and deductive forms of argument, and fallacies. The third section examines the application of argumentation in advocacy situations. Readers will learn about propositions of fact/value and policy, the implication of argument fields and the narrative paradigm on the development and evaluation of argument, and the unique rhetorical challenges involved in communication arguments. The final section offers description and in-depth consideration of affirmative and negative strategies. In addition, the discussion of refutation and cross-examination is comprehensive and useful to both academic debaters and non-debaters.
310 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1974
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 30, 2021
Organization: 5/5
Content validity: 4/5
Construct validity: 5/5
Readability: 5/5
Enjoyableness: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
As someone who has been arguing with strangers on the internet since I was 14, this is a book that I wish I would have read earlier in my life. The book helped illuminate aspects of my argumentation that are weak, and it also helped me to clearly see the bridge between personal rational inquiry and using rational inquiry to directly fuel advocacy. I've lived most of my life in the realm of personal inquiry but often neglected using inquiry for advocacy purposes, so this book has given me some inspiration in the advocacy realm.
Further descriptions of my ratings:
Organization: pretty straightforward--the book is very organized. I appreciate the summaries, study questions, and study exercises at the end of each chapter. Reading this book felt like I was enrolled in an actual course on argumentation or debate.
Content: The main thing I would have liked to see addressed differently in this book is its content on deductive logic. The author went into aspects of deductive logic that I thought weren't really necessary to cover while leaving out parts that I thought should have been included. For example, for the section titled "Tests specific to the structure of deduction," the author described the structure of syllogisms, consisting of the major premise, minor premise, conclusion, major term, middle term, and minor term. While this section introduced new knowledge of deductive logic to me, I don't think my knowing this provides much utility in my ability to construct a deductive argument. Instead, I think it would have been more fruitful to cover symbolic logic and define & distinguish valid arguments from invalid, sound from unsound, and how to actually assess deductive arguments. Otherwise, the content provided a solid foundation for argumentation. I also appreciated the examples used to illustrate the many points.
Construct: This book successfully elucidated on precisely what it set out to cover.
Readability: The book was quite easy to read through and I actually did not find myself starting over again on the same page, which I often do with difficult books. This would make for a good high school debate textbook seeing as how it is relatively easy to read and it provides a solid introduction to topics central to argumentation for those without any background on it.
Enjoyableness: The writing is a bit dry, for good reason considering the nature of its goal, which while that characteristic gives it a more reliably rational and dispassionate account, takes away from its enjoyability. That said, it was still enjoyable for me.
Overall, I'd recommend this book for anyone engaged in the activities of rational inquiry and advocacy. I would actually say that this book would provide most value for those involved or interested in advocacy without any familiarity with logical argumentation. You can't go wrong with this as your starting point.
Content validity: 4/5
Construct validity: 5/5
Readability: 5/5
Enjoyableness: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
As someone who has been arguing with strangers on the internet since I was 14, this is a book that I wish I would have read earlier in my life. The book helped illuminate aspects of my argumentation that are weak, and it also helped me to clearly see the bridge between personal rational inquiry and using rational inquiry to directly fuel advocacy. I've lived most of my life in the realm of personal inquiry but often neglected using inquiry for advocacy purposes, so this book has given me some inspiration in the advocacy realm.
Further descriptions of my ratings:
Organization: pretty straightforward--the book is very organized. I appreciate the summaries, study questions, and study exercises at the end of each chapter. Reading this book felt like I was enrolled in an actual course on argumentation or debate.
Content: The main thing I would have liked to see addressed differently in this book is its content on deductive logic. The author went into aspects of deductive logic that I thought weren't really necessary to cover while leaving out parts that I thought should have been included. For example, for the section titled "Tests specific to the structure of deduction," the author described the structure of syllogisms, consisting of the major premise, minor premise, conclusion, major term, middle term, and minor term. While this section introduced new knowledge of deductive logic to me, I don't think my knowing this provides much utility in my ability to construct a deductive argument. Instead, I think it would have been more fruitful to cover symbolic logic and define & distinguish valid arguments from invalid, sound from unsound, and how to actually assess deductive arguments. Otherwise, the content provided a solid foundation for argumentation. I also appreciated the examples used to illustrate the many points.
Construct: This book successfully elucidated on precisely what it set out to cover.
Readability: The book was quite easy to read through and I actually did not find myself starting over again on the same page, which I often do with difficult books. This would make for a good high school debate textbook seeing as how it is relatively easy to read and it provides a solid introduction to topics central to argumentation for those without any background on it.
Enjoyableness: The writing is a bit dry, for good reason considering the nature of its goal, which while that characteristic gives it a more reliably rational and dispassionate account, takes away from its enjoyability. That said, it was still enjoyable for me.
Overall, I'd recommend this book for anyone engaged in the activities of rational inquiry and advocacy. I would actually say that this book would provide most value for those involved or interested in advocacy without any familiarity with logical argumentation. You can't go wrong with this as your starting point.
Displaying 1 of 1 review