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The Uses of Argument Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Number Of Pages: 262

Publication Date: 2003-07-14

Sales Rank: 1410337

ISBN / ASIN: 0521827485

EAN: 9780521827485

Binding: Hardcover

Average Rating: 4.5

This reissue of the modern classic on the study of argumentation features a new Introduction by the author. Buy Book at Lowest Price on Amazon

Download Description: A central theme throughout the impressive series of philosophical books and articles Stephen Toulmin has published since 1948 is the way in which assertions and opinions concerning all sorts of topics, brought up in everyday life or in academic research, can be rationally justified. Is there one universal system of norms, by which all sorts of arguments in all sorts of fields must be judged, or must each sort of argument be judged according to its own norms? In The Uses of Argument (1958) Toulmin sets out his views on these questions for the first time. In spite of initial criticisms from logicians and fellow philosophers, The Uses of Argument has been an enduring source of inspiration and discussion to students of argumentation from all kinds of disciplinary background for more than forty years.

Review: A classic--in argument, rhetoric, and philosophy Stephen Toulmin's The Uses of Argument distinguishes itself as a work of importance in three different yet related fields. As philosophy it offers a compelling critique of analytic methods for looking at arguments, showing the limitations of a philosophical system that excludes discussion of ethical and practical issues. As rhetorical theory it was, along with Perelman's New Rhetoric, to reinvigorate Aristotle's topics within philosophical and practical argument. As argumentation theory, it models and maps arguments, providing a basic vocabulary for establishing claims, in terms of "warrants," "grounds," and "backing." Toulmin is a gifted and engaging writer. He often lays out a concept in incomplete form, though, making one wonder exactly what he meant. You have to look at other things he's written much later to see a fuller exposition of an idea that is tantalizing in its original instance. He, for example, discusses "argument field" in Uses of Argument, but provides little explication of the term. You have to read his much later Human Understanding to begin to get a fuller picture of the idea. Toulmin has often changed directions intellectually, so his work might not universally appeal to someone interested in argument or rhetoric. Nevertheless, his knowledge and writing style make him a consistently entertaining philosophical showman, much in the tradition of Bertrand Russell. He has also written one of the best books ever about Wittgenstein. He has made significant contributions to epistemology and the philosophy of science.

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