Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning Part 1 And Part 2 (12 Audio Cassettes): (The Great Courses: Course No. 497)

The Story

What is effective argumentation? How does it work? Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other great figures were masters of the craft. So how can you reason through your position and make the best possible case for it with the same skill and ease as the experts? Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning, 2nd Edition is a rigorous introduction to the formal study of argumentation-communication that seeks to persuade others through reasoned judgment. In 24 lectures you learn the building blocks of an argument, the different categories of argument and the issues that are at stake in each, the kinds of evidence that serve as proof in an argument, and many other aspects of argumentation and reasoning, illustrated with examples from some of the most famous speeches, debates, and controversies in American history. What You Learn Award-winning Professor David Zarefsky of Northwestern University has five goals for this course: How to recognize arguments in conversations, newspaper editorials, speeches, etc., and how to know them when you encounter them. How arguing reflects the choices that arguers can make. How to evaluate various types of arguments. Having become familiar with argumentation theories, you should be able to improve your ability both as an analyst and as a maker of arguments. Argumentation starts with four lectures that review the intellectual and historical backgrounds of argumentation. Then in Lectures 5 through 11 you explore the strategies and tactics of argument construction, attack, and defense. Lectures 12 through 18 consider the components of argument in greater detail and examine how they work. Next, Lectures 19 and 20 focus on the appraisal of arguments. Finally, in Lectures 21 through 24, you investigate how argumentation functions in society, covering such topics as argumentation in specialized fields and the different ways that arguments can end.