How We Argue: 30 Lessons in Persuasive Communication

This accessible book provides a practical discussion of the main elements of argumentation as illustrated by 30 public arguments from a recent year on a wide variety of social, cultural, and scientific topics.

Arguing is an important form of communication in any society and a principal way in which ideas are exposed, discussed, and modified. The real-life examples examined in this book reflect the different considerations that go into composing arguments and the range of strategies that can be chosen as vehicles for our positions. They demonstrate the roles that emotion can play along with other modes of conveying evidence, from the use of images to the use of gestures. They show the power of threats, comparisons, and consequences. What emerges is an instructive discussion that illustrates the way we argue and that shows argument, invention, and evaluation in action.

This book is a stimulating read for anyone interested in argument and public discourse and can be used as a supplemental text for courses in argumentation, persuasive communication, critical thinking, composition, and informal logic.

Christopher W. Tindale is Director of the Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation, and Rhetoric (CRRAR) and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Windsor, Canada.