Important Distinctions

1. Just because something is stated as an argument, it doesn’t mean it is true or valid.

2. Something may be true without being an argument (e.g. the Earth is round)

TOULMIN’S MODEL

CLAIM ¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾® DATA (GROUNDS)

­

WARRANT

CLAIM - is a statement that the arguer wants his/her audience to accept

DATA - it is additional information provided to the audience to support the claim

WARRANT - it is an assumption or logical relationship which connects the claim to the

data.

Example:

It is morally wrong to use animals for medical experiments.	¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾®   ¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾®	Animals are sentient beings and they suffer as a result of experiments.
CLAIM	DATA (GROUNDS)

­

½

It is morally wrong to cause suffering.

  WARRANT  

Example:

It is justified to use animals for medical experiments.	¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾®   ¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾®	Using animals for medical experiments saves human lives.
CLAIM	DATA (GROUNDS)

­

½

Whatever saves human life is justified

  WARRANT  

TYPES OF ARGUMENTS

I Argument by example: The debater offers evidence of what is known and proven as a fact. He/ she presumes that the same conclusion can be drawn about the unknown or made into a general truth.

Example:

The Netherlands have introduced marihuana and the crime rate has not increased (statistics)/ the number of hard drug addicts has decreased (statistics) therefore if we legalize marihuana somewhere else, the process will be the same.

Important!

· Are there enough examples to prove the claim? Too often, debaters will reason simply from anecdotal evidence.

· Are there examples that might directly counter the given examples?

· Are the examples typical of the category the speaker wants to generalize about? It is important to have a representative sample if you wish to reason from example.

II Argument by analogy: The debater knows that A is true (justified, desirable). The thing she/he would like to make a claim about (B) is similar to A. Therefore he/she concludes that B is also true (justified, desirable)

Example:

Alcohol is legal. Marihuana is like alcohol in a lot of ways. Marihuana should be legalized.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-25