Linda Carozza

Office hours: By Appointment (in person or online)

Lcarozza@yorku.ca

We argue with family, friends, colleagues, and strangers; we even argue with ourselves. Arguments are part of each of our lives in some form or another. From friendly, laid-back discussions to physical fights, argumentation theory has its place. In this course we focus on several theoretical questions important in the field.  What is an argument?  Is there a difference between the acts of persuading and convincing?  Can one person have an argument, or does an argument necessarily require a speaker and listener? What roles do logic and emotion play in arguments? Are there emotional arguments? Are there visual arguments? What happens when REAL arguments do not pass theoretical normative standards? How do traditional argumentation models deal with different cultural styles of arguing? How representative of people and their argumentation patterns is any model of argumentation? What makes one school of argumentation better than another?

The field of argumentation theory is interdisciplinary, with schools of thought from areas such as informal logic, communication theory, speech act theory, social psychology, linguistics, and discourse analysis. Each area brings with it suppositions about research, argument, and the theory's proper domain of discourse. This course is a survey of the central positions and concepts in contemporary argumentation theory. As such we will be concerned with understanding the diverse and sometimes conflicting positions, as well as with definitional and jurisdictional matters. These latter include, what is an argument?  Are there good and bad arguments? Must arguments follow rules? In addition to understanding and critiquing these models, students explore applying each model’s method to real, situated, arguments.

Arguing with People, Michael A. Gilbert

All other course material will be accessible on the course Moodle site

Reflections – 20%

Online Quizzes – 20%

Critique & Class discussion facilitation  – 20%

Argumentative Essay – 40%

The course will involve interactive lectures and student discussion.

Students who successfully engage and complete this course will be able to:

• Recognize and describe the nature of argument and argumentation within different schools of thought
• Compare facets of different theories to each other
• Apply argumentation theories and models to real arguments
• Analyze different theories and ideas studied
• Engage in continual reflection throughout the course
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of ideas and methods studied
• Develop and justify, with support, unique points of view in an argumentative paper

Enrolled students can access further course information in April on Moodle.