As more pachyderms near the precipice of dropping out of the primaries, we can still learn a thing or two (actually three) as we watch them. As they continue to pander to the extreme wing of the base, the biggest question of the debate for each candidate is expressed in the immortal words of The [...]
Looking forward to some confrontation in what was otherwise predicted to be a dull exchange in the most recent Democratic debate, viewers watched to see how Clinton and Sanders would handle what some in the punditocracy have begun calling “datagate.” Those hoping for heated moments were disappointed as Sanders quickly explained and apologized for what [...]
The post on the DNA of Argument introduced the role reasoning played in argument. I wrote that reasoning connected the evidence someone presents to the assertion someone makes. You could also think of reasoning as a bridge or a link. In this post, we take a closer look at some different types of reasoning and [...]
I begin with a caveat: If you ever read a book on argumentation or take a course in argument, you’ll likely see more distinctions among the different types of evidence than what I’m about to present. I’ve condensed the many different types into three general categories: 1) examples 2) statistics and 3) expertise. I chose [...]