A Rulebook for Arguments

 

A Rulebook for Arguments
A Rulebook for Arguments
by Authors: Anthony Weston
Released: January, 2001
ISBN: 0872205525
Paperback

Sales Rank: 1,457
List price: $5.95
Our price: $5.95
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A Rulebook for Arguments > Customer Review #1:
Sharpen your edge

This introductory volume, slim and commendably affordable, takes a concise cookbook approach. As the general reasoning skills discussed are useful in any academic discipline this book is for any student, or anyone wanting to write an report, essay, dissertation, or sharpen up examination answers, and is certainly of use to public speakers wishing to prove their point in a more effective and efficient way. It is probably also of interest to anyone in the knowledge worker category, such as business analysis or systems analysis. As the title suggests it is rulebook as opposed to a textbook, taking a rule-of-thumb approach. It is a valuable adjunct to more discursive works, such the much older and more famous Straight and Crooked Thinking by Thouless.

The chapters are: composing a short argument, arguments by example, arguments by analogy, arguments from authority, arguments about causes, deductive arguments (modus ponens, modus tollens, etc). And composing an argumentative essay (exploring the issue, main points of essay, writing), fallacies, and an appendix on definition.

Although there are no wasted words in this book, a work of this size has obvious limits; for instance there are no specific sections on reasoning with probability, inductive reasoning, or data analysis. Apart from the lack of statistical analysis, these deficiencies can probably be remedied by consulting Thinking from A to Z by Warburton.

There are some small gems; the section on composing a short argument Use definite, specific, concrete language could easily be subtitled How to puncture windbags. His selected target is a wonderful eighty-word specimen of sociobabble (Talcott Parsons being his chosen victim), which he reduces to its thirteen-word equivalent - an 84% redundancy! Recommended.



A Rulebook for Arguments > Customer Review #2:
Keeps you on focus in writing

> Following this book allows you to keep your head on straight as you avoid the various problems that a philosophy paper or argumentation essay might instantiate. The book is short, and allows one to look up relevant sections on commonly occuring issues. Some basic fallacies are discussed, and suggestions are given on what is the best form for an critical essay. It advertises itself not as a textbook, but as a "rulebook". An excellent resource to recommend to students, and saves instructors the time of describing common errors. Simply refer to the page numbers in the book.

> APA Newsletter on the Teaching of Philosophy gives it high marks, calling Westons examples "brilliant," claiming that the book is "simply too good for philosophers to keep for themselves."

Contents:

1. composing a short argument: some general rules

2. arguments by example

3. arguments by analogy

4. arguments from authority

5. arguments about causes

6. deductive arguments

7. composing an argumentative essay: exploring the issue

8. composing an argumentative essay: main points of essay

9. composing an argumentative essay: writing

10. fallacies

xx. appendix: definition.



A Rulebook for Arguments > Customer Review #3:
More than informative but less than satisfactory.

The main nominal context of this book is preluded by necessary but informative meaning.It failed however in its approach to pradocate the very imposition it was trying to assert.I dont think has the unifying thought failsafes that were all to abundant in previous attempts (Copi,Informal Logic) but it does appeal to the novice which is what makes it so accessible.

 
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