Herrick Argumentation and Advocacy Midterm

middle term

The term that appears in both premises, but not in the conclusion.

argument

a claim advanced with a reason or reasons in its support

particular affirmative statement (PA)

a claim that attributes a specified quality to only some members of a category

universal negative statement (UN)

a claim that denies a specified quality to every member of a category

particular negative statement (PN)

a claim that denies that some members of a category possess a specified quality

conclusion

a claim that has been reached by a process of reasoning

inference

a conclusion drawn on the basis of reasons

intermediate conclusion

a conclusion that is then used as a reason

sufficient condition

a condition that will bring about another event

necessary condition

a condition without which another event cannot occur

rebuttal

a counter-argument, a reasoned answer that addresses specific points made or evidence advanced in the original argument

dilemma

a disjunctive argument that forces a choice between limited and undesireable options

repudiation

a dismissal of an argument without serious consideration

fallacy of hasty generalization

a generalization based on a sample that is too small to support it

term

a noun or noun phrase that represents a category in a categorical statement

inductive leap

a process in which the conclusion of an argument moves beyond its stated evidence

property

a quality projected from the sample to the population

evidence

a reason rooted in observation

lay testimony

a report of personal observation, experience, or opinion on a topic not requiring special expertise

random sample

a sample in which every element in the population has an equal chance of being selected

stratified sample

a sample that adequately reflects the various groups that introduce variation within the population

case

a series of arguments, all advanced to support the same general contention or set of conclusions

pluralistic culture

a society composed of groups who see the world from different perspectives, value different activities, hold disparate religious beliefs, and aspire to different goals

validity

a solid internal structure that allows for reasonable connections between evidence and conclusions in an argument

reason

a statement advanced for the purpose of establishing a claim

convertible statement

a statement in which the subject and predicate terms of a statement are distributed similarly

reservation

a statement that acknowledges the existence of an argument, evidence, or an attitude opposing the conclusion being advanced

categorical statement

a statement that establishes a relationship between two categories, or classes, of objects

claim

a statement the advocate believes or is in the process of evaluating

distributed term (D)

a term that, in a statement, refers to every member of the category it represents

straw man argument

a weak interpretation of someone else's argument in order to make it easier to refute

representative

accurately reflects the presence of the quality in the entire population

consideration

an agreement to think about the argument further, to withhold any final judgement about its quality for the time being

conditional argument

an argument built around an "if-then" statement or an equivalent

slippery slope argument

an argument from direction urging that the first step in a progression not be taken

disjunctive argument

an argument that presents limited options: two enumerated alternatives, or disjuncts, often marked by an "either/or" statement

enumeration argument

an argument that sets out alternative explanations or options and then follows a process of elimination

argument from direction

an argument that strings together two or more conditional statements to predict a remote result from a first step

valid argument

an argument whose structure connects its reasons to its conclusions in a reliable manner

statement

any phrase or sentence that supplies a portion of the argument's content or meaning

deductive arguments

arguments that lead to necessary conclusions when their reasons are true

inductive arguments

arguments whose reasons lead to probable conclusions

values

deeply held moral commitments acquired from family, cultural background, religious training, and personal experience

false dilemma

dilemma argument that uses artificially limited options to mislead an audience

scanning

identifying and marking the statements in an argument

diagramming

mapping the argument, using only the letters assigned during scanning, and drawing lines from reasons to the conclusion they support

complementary reasons

pairs of reasons that must work together to lend support to their conclusion

testimony

personal report of direct experience, expression of personal opinion, or judgement based on expert knowledge

human nature perspectives

perspectives that develop around one or more essential qualities of human nature

dialogic perspectives

perspectives that identify ethical considerations or principles inherent to each unique communication setting

political perspectives

perspectives that rely on the essential values of a political system for their criteria of ethical assessment

conditional statement

the if-then statement in a conditional argument

finding

what was discovered about members of the sample

cues

words or phrases that signal something, other than a reason or a conclusion, about the content of an argument

support

the strength and accuracy of the argument's evidence

categorical argument

"categorical statement"; an argument composed of three categorical statement - two statements that are its reasons, or premises, and one that is its conclusion

biased testimony

"interested testimony" testimony from individuals who stand to gain if what they say is accepted

refutation

A thoroughly successful response to an argument, one that clearly demonstrates a damaging flaw to the satisfaction of a relatively objective listener or reader.

population

group or class to which the generalization is meant to apply

connectives

reasons that consist of beliefs, values, assumptions, or generalizations that link evidence to a conclusion

sampling

selecting and observing members of a group or population who are taken to be representative of the rest of the group

proposition of value

statements that advance judgements about morality, beauty, merit, or wisdom

proposition of fact

statements that report, describe, predict, or make causal claims

proposition of policy

statements that urge that an action be taken or discontinued

unbiased testimony

testimony from individuals who will neither gain nor lose if their testimony is accepted as true

reluctant testimony

testimony from sources who will lose something as a result of their testimony

concurrent testimony

testimony that is consistent with other available sources of testimony on the topic

antecedent

the "if" clause in a conditional statement

consequent

the "then" clause in a conditional statement

acceptance

the agreement to accept the argument as presented; that is, to find it persuasive, or at least lacking in any major flaw

rule of reason

the agreement to engage in the cooperative process of argumentation rather than to resolve disagreement by other means

linguistic consistency

the clarity of its language and its use of terms in the same way throughout the argument

argumentation

the cooperative activity of developing and advancing arguments and of responding to the arguments of others

median

the figure that exactly divides the top half from the bottom half in a range of figures

subject term

the first term in a categorical statement, the subject or principal focus of the argument

expert testimony

the judgement or opinion of a qualified specialist in a discipline about matters relevant to that discipline

sample

the members of a group actually observed or consulted

mode

the most frequently occurring observation or response in a sample

absolute sample size

the number of members in the sample

conversion

the process of switching a statement's subject and predicate terms in order to create an equivalent statement

premises

the reasons in conditional arguments, as well as in the enumerative and categorical arguments

structure of inferences

the relationships among the reasons and the conclusions in an argument

predicate term

the second term in a categorical statement, the term that attributes or denies a quality to the members of the category represented in the subject term

relative sample size

the size of a sample relative to the total number of members in the population

criteria of evaluation

the standards on which a value judgement is based

mean

the sum of a set of figures divided by the number of figures in the set; arithmetical average

end terms

the two terms that appear once in a reason and once in the conclusion of a categorical argument

pluralism

the variety of moral and ethical perspectives present in contemporary societies

argument virtues

those moral qualities and skills that help people think and act morally in an argumentative situation, and thus pursue argumentation in a manner that promotes and improves its practice

enthymemes

truncated, or abbreviated, categorical arguments, missing one or more of the basic components, such as a reason or a conclusion

exclusive disjuncts

two alternatives that cannot both be true at the same time

inclusive disjuncts

two alternatives that might both be true at the same time