Structuring Arguments and the Toulmin Argument – Part One

Toulmin ArgumentNamed after the British philosopher Stephen Toulmin in The Uses of Argument (1958). He was looking for a method that accurately described the way people make convincing and reasonable arguments. Because he wanted to describe arguments in real life, he is not looking for perfect descriptions of right and wrong, but rather is open to qualifier words. Words like “sometimes, often, presumably, unless, almost.”

Qualifiers:

What makes Toulmin’s system work well in the real world is that it acknowledges that qualifiers – words and phrases that place limits on claims, such as usually, sometimes, in many cases – play an important role in arguments. By contrast, formal logic requires universal premises: All humans are mortal, all squares have four equal sides, no mammals are cold blooded.

Qualifiers take the universal out of the picture and allow debate.

Examples of qualifiers:Fewmore or lessOftenit is possiblein some casesPerhapsRarelyMany under these conditionsit seems

in the mainPossiblySomeRoutinelyfor the most partit may beMostif it were soSometimesone might argue

Examples of Qualified argumentsMost AP students will go to

college.Almost all chocolate lovers will

enjoy Hostess cupcakes.Students that study hard

generally will get into the college they want.

Using Qualifiers:

 Instead of making sweeping generalizations, using a qualifier can help make an argument effective.

 For example: My ACT score was 32, so I will get into whatever college I want.My ACT score was 32, so I may get into whatever college I want. I hate chocolate cake, so I will hate that cake you made.I hate chocolate cake, so I most likely will hate that cake you made. Tina is an excellent artist, so she will do a great job on the mural.Tina is an excellent artist, so she will most likely do a great job on the mural.

Toulmin Argument Part Two

Claims, Evidence and Reasons, Warrants, and Backing

Claims:

 Debatable and controversial statements or assertions you hope to prove. Sometimes claims can seem so obvious that they are not worth debating, but if you look closer there is often a way create an argument about what at first looks obvious.

Ex. “It is raining.” (in a certain situation this may seem like a simple fact, but in another situation it could be debated with, “It is not raining, that is sleet.” Ex. “I am a human.” Debated with “That serial killer is not a human.” “That terrorist is not a human.” “In Nazi Germany, “Jews are not human.”

Claims worthy of spending time thinking about should be debatable. People should be able to demonstrate a claim through logic and evidence.

 Ex. “We should legalize marijuana in the United States.”Ex. “Abortion is wrong.” or “Abortion is a right all women should have.”Ex. “Vegetarianism is the best choice of diet.”Ex. “School should be optional for students over 12 years old.”Ex. “Barack Obama is a good president.”

Claims are statements, not questions. But often, the process of thinking and questioning is necessary to make a well thought claim.

For example, if you were thinking about how to be healthy, you might ask yourself: “What types of food are healthy? What types of food are bad for you? How can excessive amounts of meat, especially red meat, lead to heart disease? What foods have the most nutrients for the least calories?”  These questions may lead you to research that in turn will lead you to the conclusion that “Vegetarianism is the best choice of diet.”  Someone else may argue against this claim and force you to qualify or adjust your claim.

DO: On your own, come up with 5 claim statements.

Evidence and Reasons: Evidence and Reason ------------------------ So ClaimThe first step in developing a claim is to list reasons that support or back up your point: Topic: We are thinking about health and diet.

Evidence and Reasons:

I feel sick from all the meat after I eat a bacon double extra meat cheeseburger.

My uncle Jedediah eats bacon every morning, and he just had a heart attack.

My friend Tim told me that his aunt just got diabetes and she is overweight from eating too many hotdogs.

Animals are killed in slaughterhouses. Vegetables are generally lower in calories compared to meats. Vegetables are high in fiber and other important nutrients. The Surgeon General of the United States says that overeating

meat is a contributing factor to cardiovascular disease. My doctor told me to lower my cholesterol by cutting down on

the size of my steaks at dinner.  All these reasons might lead you to the claim, “Vegetarianism is the best choice of diet.”

And we can begin to categorize these types of evidence and reasons into various categories, including “Personal Experience, Anecdotes (the experiences or stories of others), Facts or Statistics, and Authorities on the Subject.”

When writing an argument, try to put a claim and a reason together early to create what Aristotle called an “enthymemes” or what we might call a topic sentence.

 Ex. “Vegetarianism is the best choice of diet because doctors agree that too much meat is harmful to your health.” Ex. “Marijuana should be legalized because in a free country adults should be able to use drugs, such as Tylenol, alcohol, nicotine, or THC as long as they are causing harm to nobody.” Ex. “Abortion is wrong because killing a human being is always morally wrong.”

DO: On your own, take one of the claim topics either that you came up with or that I provided you, and state 5 evidence or reasons to support or back up your claim.

Warrants:

A warrant is the logical and persuasive connection between a claim and the reasons and data supporting it. A warrant answers the question “How exactly do I get from the reason to the claim and vice versa?” The warrant tells a reader or listener what your (often unstated) assumptions are. A warrant is the general principle that enables you to justify the move between the reason and the claim.

Reason(s) ------------------- So Claim

Since Warrant    Red striped mushrooms are poisonous ---------------- So don’t eat them.

Since eating poisonous things is dangerous.    Abortion kills a human being. ------------ So abortion is wrong.

Since killing a human being is wrong.

When you state a warrant, it will often expose a potential counterargument. Warrants help you to make a claim because they show you what you will have to be able to argue in order to support your claim. If your warrant is obvious, it helps to defend your claim; if the warrant is controversial, you must first support and defend your warrant before you can support your claim. For example: If killing a human being is wrong, is war wrong? Is the death penalty wrong? Are cops that chase and kill criminals wrong?

By looking at Warrants, it becomes very easy to see poorly thought out arguments.  Ex. Grades in school should be abolished because I failed math. (The warrant here is “Things I fail at should be abolished.”) I failed math ------- So grades in school should be abolished.

Since things I do poorly on should be

abolished.

Ex. The legal drinking age should be lowered since I have been drinking since I was 14 without any problems. (The warrant is that what works for me should work for everyone else) I’ve been drinking since age 14 without any problems So the drinking age should be lowered

Since what works for me should work for all.

DO: On your own, structure 5 arguments according to the Toulmin system and write out the since warrant that bridges the gap between the reason and the so claim.

Backing:

 In Toulmin argument, evidence you offer to support a warrant is called backing. Backing often can be categorized within the three types of appeals, ethical, logical, and emotional. It can also involve facts and statistics.

Evidence ------------------- So Claim

Since Warrant

Backing

Telling students how to dress gives them no freedom to choose how they look.------------- So schools should not force students to wear uniforms.

Since kids often rebel when they are given little freedom.

(Backing) If students are unhappy about not being able to pick clothes, they will do worse on TCAP because they know scores are important to teachers and administrators and will want to punish them. Logical appeal as evidence – (Cause and effect)

 

Speaking as a student, I can assure you that making me wear a uniform will only make me upset and I will start to cause trouble. Ethical appeal as evidence – (speak from a position of authority on the subject)

 

My cousin Tina went to a school where kids had to wear uniforms, and she said that the students got upset and started to tag “No Uniforms” all over the bathroom walls. Emotional appeal as evidence– (include an anecdote to make the situation familiar and real)

 

When Achievement Academy Middle School went to uniforms, TCAP scores went down and discipline referrals went up the following year. Fact as evidence

DO: Choose one Toulmin argument and come up with an ethical, logical, emotional,and factual backing to support your warrant. Diagram the entire argument according to the Toulmin format.

Conditions of Rebuttal: In the Toulmin system, potential objections to an argument are called conditions of rebuttal. A rebuttal is basically just a response to an argument, or a counterargument. The conditions of rebuttal are basically counterarguments that a person can predict will arise during the course of an argument. To think about conditions of rebuttal is to think about ways people might disagree intelligently with your argument, and to have some responses ready for those people. For example, let’s take the “I hate chocolate cake, so I will hate that cake you made” The baker might reply, but this cake is made from a rare chocolate from the highest mountains of Argentina that tastes different from all other types of chocolate.  Someone might say, well, then when was the last time you ate a chocolate cake? Was it so long ago that your tastes could have changed? Then you would have to have a response to their rebuttals.

Responses to Rebuttal:

 You might say, “I hate chocolate cake that tastes like the chocolate from a candy bar or hostess cupcake… if this cake is like that then I will hate it.” You might say, “I haven’t had chocolate cake in over 15 years, so I guess I might try a small piece of your cake.”

 DO: Use one or more previous arguments or create new ones and come up with at least 5 COMPLETE TOULMIN ARGUMENTS.