Practical Argumentation

Practical Argumentation

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Practical Argumentation, by George
K. Pattee Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to
check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or
redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: Practical Argumentation
Author: George K. Pattee
Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6473] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 18,
2002]
Edition: 10

Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
PRACTICAL ARGUMENTATION ***

Produced by Scott Pfenninger, Charles Franks and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team.

PRACTICAL ARGUMENTATION

PRACTICAL ARGUMENTATION
BY GEORGE K. PATTEE, A.M.
Assistant Professor of English and Rhetoric in The Pennsylvania State
College

TO FRED LEWIS PATTEE

Preface
The author's aim has been to produce a book that is practical,--
practical from the student's standpoint, and practical from the teacher's
standpoint. The study of Argumentation has often been criticized for
being purely academic, or for being a mere stepping- stone to the study
of law. It has even been said that courses in Argumentation and Debate
have been introduced into American colleges and universities for no
other purpose than to give the intellectual student the opportunity, so
long monopolized by his athletic classmate, to take part in
intercollegiate contests. The purpose of this book is to teach
Argumentation, which is not a science by itself but one of the four
branches of Rhetoric, in such a way as to remove these criticisms.
Largely by his choice of illustrative material the author has endeavored
to show that this subject is confined neither to the class room nor to any
one profession. He has drawn his illustrations, for the most part, from
contemporary and popular sources; he has had recourse to many current
magazines, newspapers, books, and recent speeches, hoping to show

thereby that Argumentation is a practical subject. On the other hand, he
has carefully avoided taking a majority of his illustrations either from
students' work or from legal practice, criminal cases especially being
seldom used on the ground that although they afford the easiest
examples a writer can give, they furnish the least help to the average
student, who, unless he studies law, will rarely, perhaps never, have
occasion to argue upon such subjects.
This book cannot justly be called the effort of a single author. It is
rather an outgrowth of the work that for many years has been carried on
by the English department at The Pennsylvania State College. The
book has, in fact, gradually developed in the class room. Every rule that
is given has been tested time and again; every step has been carefully
thought out and taught for several years.
The author wishes to acknowledge especial indebtedness to Professor
Fred Lewis Pattee, who both inspired the writing of the book and
assisted in the work. To Professor A. Howry Espenshade are due many
thanks for invaluable suggestions and advice, and for a careful reading
of the greater part of the manuscript. Mr. William S. Dye is also to be
thanked for valuable assistance. As a student the author studied Baker's
_Principles of Argumentation_; as a teacher he has taught Laycock and
Scales' _Argumentation and Debate_, Alden's _The Art of Debate_,
and Foster's Argumentation and Debating. The debt he owes to these is
beyond estimate.
STATE COLLEGE, PA. March 17, 1909

Contents
I. Preliminaries
II. The Subject
III. The Introduction--Persuasion
IV. The Introduction--Conviction
V. The Introduction--Brief-Drawing
VI. The Discussion--Conviction and Persuasion
VII. The Discussion--Brief-Drawing
VIII. Methods of Refutation
IX. Debate--Some Practical Suggestions
X. The Conclusion
APPENDIX.

A. A Written Argument and its Brief B. A List of Propositions

PRACTICAL ARGUMENTATION

PRACTICAL ARGUMENTATION

CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARIES
Argumentation is the art of presenting truth so that others will accept it
and act in accordance with it. Debate is a special form of argumentation:
it is oral argumentation carried on by opposing sides.
A consideration of the service which argumentation performs shows
that it is one of the noblest and most useful of arts. By argumentation
men