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Argumentation (2012) 26:7181
DOI 10.1007/s10503-011-9235-6
J. Anthony Blair
Published online: 28 September 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
Abstract I argue that argumentation is not to be identied with (attempted) rational persuasion, because although rational persuasion appears to consist of arguments, some uses of arguments are not attempts at rational persuasion. However, the use of arguments in argumentative communication to try to persuade is one kind of attempt at rational persuasion. What makes it rational is that its informing ideal is to persuade on the basis of adequate grounds, grounds that make it reasonable and rational to accept the claim at issue.
Keywords Argument Persuasion Rational persuasion Advertising
Inquiry Problem-solving Decision making
1 Introduction
Anyone approaching the topic of the relationship between persuasion, argumentation and rationality needs do so with an appreciation of the need to provide some measure of precision to these three slippery terms. However, even in advance of doing so there is a temptation to see a close connection between argumentation and persuasion, and because there also seems to be a close connection between argumentation and rationality, there is attraction to the idea that argumentation is rational persuasion (in some senses of these three terms). So in this paper I address two questions. First, is argumentation to be identied with rational persuasion? Second, what is the nature of the rationality of the persuasion that argumentation supplies?
J. A. Blair (&)
Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canadae-mail: [email protected]
Argumentation as Rational Persuasion
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2 Terminology
As noted, each of the terms used in the proposition that argumentation is rational persuasion is used in many different ways. So I need to say how I intend to use them, and thus to explain what I mean by the rst question. That said, I dont mean anything unusual or controversial in the way I here use these words.
By argumentation I mean the activity of making or giving argumentsand including exchanging argumentsfor some purpose, or else a collection of such arguments.
By an argument here I mean a set of one or more reasons for doing something, such asbut not limited toto adopt or maintain an attitude such as a belief but also...