The Aims of Argument: A Brief Guide

About this book

The Aims of Argument a comprehensive text for teaching argument recognizes that people argue with a range of purposes in mind: to inquire to convince to persuade and to negotiate. It offers a clear logical learning sequence rather than merely a collection of assignments: inquiry is the search for truth what we call an earned opinion which then becomes the basis of efforts to convince others to accept our earned opinions. Case-making the essence of convincing is then carried over into learning how to persuade which requires explicit attention to appeals to character emotion and style. Finally the previous three aims all play roles in negotiation which amounts to finding and defending positions capable of appealing to all sides in a dispute or controversy.