28.1: Toulmin Argumentation Part 1 (Reading/Media)
- Page ID
- 289185
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Toulmin argumentation is a style of expression, often written expression, centered on analysis and justification. It was created by Stephen Toulmin in 1958.1 In the context of social justice, let’s frame Toulmin argumentation as a style of expression that relies on analysis for advocacy. More specifically, Toulmin argumentation should be utilized for complex issues that do not have an obvious answer. For example, whether people should have access to drinkable water everyday should have an obvious answer given that people need water to survive. Toulmin argumentation would be better used for determining whether or not it makes sense to monetize access to water. To illustrate, one could advocate that monetizing access to water is a denial of basic human rights despite rebuttals based on the costs of collection and distribution. With the social justice scope of this English composition module, Toulmin argumentation will provide a rhetorical method for justified advocacy centered on complex issues.
In view of that, let's frame the six Toulmin argumentation components in ways that align with analyzing complex social justice issues. The grounds are the component that addresses what is happening with the social justice issue that makes it an issue. The claim is the component that proposes what should be done in response to the social justice issue. The warrant is the component that identifies the assumption being made about the connection between what is happening with the social justice issue and what should be done in response to it. The backing is the component that alerts us to why warrant's assumption is possible. The qualifier is the component that expresses the social justice conditions that the assumption applies within. The rebuttal is the component that identifies the limits and/or doubts that are likely to arise about the assumption.
Example Reading/Media
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" on March 23, 1775 by Patrick Henry (located at Project Gutenberg)
FOOTNOTE
[1] Toulmin, Stephen E. The Uses of Argument. Cambridge University Press, 1958.