Thank You for Arguing (Revised and Updated)

by Jay Heinrichs

  FALLACY OF IGNORANCE: Claims that if something has not been proven, it must be false.

  BAD CONCLUSION: We’re given too many choices, or not enough, or the conclusion is irrelevant to the argument.

  MANY QUESTIONS: Squashes two or more issues into a single one.

  FALSE DILEMMA: Offers the audience two choices when more actually exist.

  FALLACY OF ANTECEDENT: Assumes that this moment is identical to past, similar moments.

  RED HERRING: Introduces an irrelevant issue to distract or confuse the audience.

  STRAW MAN: Sets up a different issue that’s easier to argue.

  DISCONNECT BETWEEN PROOF AND CONCLUSION: The proof stands up all right, but it fails to lead to the conclusion.

  TAUTOLOGY: A logical redundancy; the proof and the conclusion are the same thing.

  REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM: Takes the opponent’s choice and reduces it to an absurdity.

  SLIPPERY SLOPE: Predicts a series of dire events stemming from one choice.

  POST HOC ERGO PROPTER HOC: Assumes that if one thing follows another, the first thing caused the second one. I call this the Chanticleer fallacy.

  RHETORICAL FOULS: Mistakes or intentional offenses that stop an argument dead or make it fail to reach a consensus.

  SWITCHING TENSES AWAY FROM THE FUTURE: It’s fine to use the past or present, but deliberative argument depends on eventually discussing the future.

  INFLEXIBLE INSISTENCE ON THE RULES: Using the voice of God, sticking to your guns, refusing to hear the other side.

  HUMILIATION: An argument that sets out only to debase someone, not to make a choice.

  INNUENDO: A form of irony used to debase someone. It often plants an idea in the audience’s head by denying it.

  THREATENING: Rhetoricians call this argumentum ad baculum—argument by the stick. It denies the audience a choice.

  NASTY LANGUAGE OR SIGNS

  UTTER STUPIDITY

  Kairos

  The Romans called it occasio, the art of seizing the occasion. Kairos depends on timing and the medium.

  PERSUASIVE MOMENT: When the audience is ripest for your argument.

  MOMENT SPOTTER: Uncertain moods and beliefs—when minds are already beginning to change—signal a persuasive moment.

  PERFECT AUDIENCE: Receptive, attentive, and well disposed toward you.

  AUDIENCE CHANGE: If the current audience isn’t ready for persuasion, seek another one. This is what market research is all about.

  SENSES: The five senses are key to the proper medium.

  SIGHT: Mostly pathos and ethos.

  SOUND: The most logical sense.

  SMELL, TASTE, AND TOUCH: Almost purely emotional.

  Speechmaking

  INVENTION: The crafting part of a speech. Its tools are the tools of logos.

  ARRANGEMENT: The organization of a speech.

  INTRODUCTION

  NARRATION

  PROOF

  REFUTATION

  CONCLUSION

  STYLE: Choice of words that make a speech attractive to the listener. The five virtues of style:

  PROPER LANGUAGE

  CLARITY

  VIVIDNESS

  DECORUM

  ORNAMENT

  MEMORY: The ability to speak without notes.

  DELIVERY: The action of giving a speech.

  VOICE: Should be loud enough for the room.

  GESTURE: The eyes are key, even in a large room, because they lead your other facial muscles. Use few hand gestures in a formal speech.

  APPENDIX III

  Glossary

  ACCISMUS (as-SIS-mus): The figure of coyness (“Oh, you shouldn’t have”).

  AD HOMINEM (ad HOM-in-em): The character attack. Logicians and the argument-averse consider it a bad thing, but in rhetoric it’s a necessity. Ethos, the appeal to character, needs a rebuttal in a real argument.

  ADIANOETA (ah-dee-ah-nee-tah): The figure of hidden meaning (“I’m sure you wanted to do this in the worst way”).

  A FORTIORI (ah-for-tee-OR-ee): The Mikey-likes-it! argument. If something less likely is true, then something more likely is bound to be true. Similarly, if you accomplished a difficult thing, you’re more likely to accomplish an easier one.

  ANADIPLOSIS (an-a-di-PLO-sis): A figure that builds one thought on top of another by taking the last word of a clause and using it to begin the next clause.

  ANAPHORA (an-AH-phor-a): A figure that repeats the first word in succeeding phrases or clauses. It works best in an emotional address before a crowd.

  ANTHROPOMORPHISM (an-thro-po-MOR-phism): A logical fallacy—it attributes human traits to a nonhuman creature or object. Common to owners of pets.

  ANTITHESIS (an-TIH-the-sis): The figure of contrasting ideas.

  APORIA (a-POR-i-a): Doubt or ignorance—feigned or real—used as a rhetorical device.

  BEGGING THE QUESTION: Logicians know this as the fallacy of circular argument, or tautology (“Bob says I’m trustworthy, and I can assure you that he tells the truth”). But in common usage it refers to speech that leaves out a beginning explanation.

  CHIASMUS (ky-AZZ-muss): The crisscross figure (“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”).

  CIRCUMLOCUTION (cir-cum-lo-CU-tion): The rhetorical end run. It talks around an issue to avoid getting to the point.

  CONCESSIO (con-SESS-ee-o): Concession, the jujitsu figure. You seem to agree with your opponent’s point, only to use it to your advantage.

  CONVERSE ACCIDENT FALLACY: A logical foul that uses a bad example to make a generalization.

  DELIBERATIVE RHETORIC: One of three types of rhetorical persuasion (the other two are forensic and demonstrative). Deliberative rhetoric deals with argument about choices. It concerns itself with matters that affect the future; its chief topic, according to Aristotle, is the “advantageous”—what’s best for the audience, family, company, community, or country. Without deliberative rhetoric, democracy is impossible.

  DEMONSTRATIVE RHETORIC: Persuasion that deals with values that bring a group together. It usually focuses on matters in the present, and its chief topic is right versus wrong. Most sermons—and too many political speeches—are demonstrative. (The other two forms of rhetoric are deliberative and forensic.)

  DIALECTIC: The purely logical debate of philosophers. Its purpose is to discover the truth through dialogue. Logical fallacies are verboten in dialectic. Rhetoric, on the other hand, allows them.

  DIALOGISMUS (die-a-log-IS-mus): The dialogue figure. You quote a conversation as an example.

  DIALYSIS: The this-not-that figure (“Don’t buy the shoes. Buy the colors”). People take your wisdom more seriously if you put it cryptically; it’s the idiot savant approach.

  DIAZEUGMA (die-a-ZOOG-ma): The play-by-play figure. It uses a single subject to govern a succession of verbs.

  DISINTEREST: Freedom from special interests. (The technical name is eunoia.) One of the three traits of ethos. (The other two are practical wisdom and virtue.)

  DUBITATIO (du-bih-TAT-ee-o): Feigned doubt about your ability to speak well. It’s a personal form of aporia.

  ENARGEIA (en-AR-gay-a): The special effects of figures—vivid description that makes an audience believe something is taking place before their very eyes.

  ENTHYMEME (EN-thih-meem): Rhetoric’s version of the syllogism. The enthymeme stakes a claim and then bases it on commonly accepted opinion. A little packet of logic, it can provide protein to an argument filled with emotion.

  EPERGESIS (ep-er-GEE-sis): The correction figure.

  EPIDEICTIC (ep-i-DAKE-tic) rhetoric: Aristotle’s name for demonstrative rhetoric, speech that deals w
ith values.

  EQUIVOCATION (e-quiv-o-KAY-shon): The language mask. It appears to say one thing while meaning the opposite. The Jesuits used it to trick the Inquisition without actually violating their beliefs.

  ERISTIC (er-ISS-tick): A competitive argument for the sake of argument.

  ETHOS: Argument by character, one of the three “appeals”; the other two are pathos (argument by emotion) and logos (argument by logic).

  EUNOIA: Aristotle’s word for disinterest, one of the three characteristics of ethos, or argument by character. (The other two traits are practical wisdom and virtue.)

  EXAMPLE: Exemplum in classical rhetoric. The foundation of inductive logic. Aristotle listed three kinds: fact, comparison, and “fable” or story.

  FORENSIC (LEGAL) RHETORIC: Argument that determines guilt or innocence. It focuses on the past. (The other two kinds of rhetoric are deliberative and demonstrative.)

  HOMERISM: The unabashed use of illogic, named after the immortal cartoon character in The Simpsons.

  HYPOPHORA (hy-PAH-phor-a): A figure that asks a rhetorical question and then immediately answers it. The hypophora allows you to anticipate the audience’s skepticism and nip it in the bud.

  IDIOM (ID-ee-om): Inseparable words with a single meaning. Often mistaken for figures in general, the idiom is merely a kind of figure.

  IGNORATIO ELENCHI (ig-no-ROT-ee-o eh-LEN-chee): The fallacy of proving the wrong conclusion.

  INNUENDO: The technique of planting negative ideas in the audience’s head.

  JEREMIAD ( jer-e-MI-ad): Prophecy of doom; also called cataplexis.

  KAIROS (KIE-ros): The rhetorical art of seizing the occasion. It covers both timing and the appropriate medium.

  LEPTOLOGIA (lep-to-LO-gia): See quibbling.

  LITOTES (li-TOE-tees): The figure of ironic understatement, usually negative (“We are not amused”).

  LOGOS: Argument by logic, one of the three “appeals”; the other two are argument by emotion (pathos) and argument by character (ethos).

  METANOIA (met-a-NOI-a): The self-editing figure. You stop to correct yourself with a stronger point.

  METAPHOR (MET-a-phor): A figure that makes something represent something else (“The moon is a balloon”).

  METASTASIS (met-AS-ta-sis): A figure of thought that skips over an awkward matter. “Traffic was horrible. I got into a little fender-bender, no big deal, but I got you that shirt you wanted.”

  METONYMY (meh-TON-ih-mee): A “belonging trope,” it takes a characteristic (red hair) and makes it stand for the whole (“Red”). It can also use a cause to name an effect, or a container to name what it contains (“I drank a bottle”). The metonymy is one of the fundamental tropes, along with metaphor and synecdoche.

  NEOLOGISM (NEE-oh-loh-gism): The newly minted word.

  NON SEQUITUR (non SEH-quit-ur): The figure of irrelevance, a point that doesn’t follow its predecessor (“You know what your problem is? Whoa, did you see that car?”).

  ONOMATOPOEIA (onna-motta-PEE-ah): The noisemaker. This figure imitates a sound to name the sound (“Kaboom!”).

  PARADIGM (PAR-a-dime): A rule that arises from examples (“Look at those maples turning colors; we must be getting into fall”).

  PARADOX: The contrary figure, an impossible pair (“We had to destroy the village in order to save it”). The term’s connotation has changed since ancient times, when it originally meant something contrary to public opinion or belief.

  PARALIPSIS (pa-ra-LIP-sis): A figure in which you mention something by saying you’re not going to mention it. It makes you sound fairer than you are.

  PARAPROSDOKIAN (pa-ra-proze-DOK-ee-an): This figure attaches a surprise ending to a thought.

  PATHOS: Argument by emotion, one of the three “appeals” of persuasion; the other two are argument by logic (logos) and argument by character (ethos).

  PERIPHRASIS (per-IH-phra-sis): The speak-around figure. It uses a description as a name. Also known as circumlocution.

  PETITIO PRINCIPII (pe-TIH-ee-o prin-CIH-pee-ee): Begging the question; the fallacy of circular argument.

  PHRONESIS (fro-NEE-sis): Practical wisdom; street savvy. One of Aristotle’s three traits of ethos, or argument by character. (The other two are disinterest and virtue.)

  POST HOC ERGO PROPTER HOC: The Chanticleer fallacy. A is followed by B; therefore, A caused B (“My crowing makes the sun come up”).

  PRACTICAL WISDOM: See phronesis.

  PROLEPSIS (pro-LEP-sis): A figure of thought that anticipates an opponent’s or audience’s objections.

  PROSOPOPOEIA (pro-so-po-PEE-uh): The figure of personification. Ancient rhetoric teachers used the word to refer to school exercises in which students imitated real and imagined orators from history.

  QUIBBLING: Using careful language to obfuscate (“That depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is”). The rhetorical term is leptologia.

  RED HERRING: The fallacy of distraction.

  REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM: Taking an opponent’s argument to its illogical conclusion. A fallacy in formal logic; in rhetoric, a great tool.

  RHETORIC: The art of persuasion. Aristotle listed three kinds of rhetoric: forensic (legal), which tries to prove guilt or innocence; demonstrative, which makes people believe in a community’s values; and deliberative. This book deals mostly with deliberative rhetoric, the language of political persuasion; its main topic is the “advantageous”—what’s best for an audience, community, or nation.

  SIGNIFICATIO (sig-ni-fi-CAT-ee-o): A benign form of innuendo that implies more than it says. “He’s a stickler for detail,” you say of an indecisive muddler.

  SLIPPERY SLOPE: The fallacy of dire consequences. It assumes that one choice will necessarily lead to a cascading series of bad choices.

  SOLECISM (SOL-eh-sizm): The figure of ignorance; a generic term for illogic, or bad grammar or syntax.

  STRAW MAN FALLACY: Instead of dealing with the actual issue, it attacks a weaker version of the argument.

  SYNCRISIS (SIN-crih-sis): A figure that reframes an argument by redefining it (“Not manipulation. Instruction”).

  SYNECDOCHE (sin-ECK-doe-kee): A “belonging trope,” along with metonymy, the synecdoche swaps a member for the whole group, or a part for the whole thing, or a species for a genus (“bluehairs”; “the word on the street”).

  TAUTOLOGY (taw-TAH-lo-gee): The redundancy. It’s often used in politics to mislead. Also known as begging the question or petitio principii.

  YOGIISM (YO-gee-ism): The idiot savant figure, named after baseball great Yogi Berra. On the surface it’s illogical, but it makes an odd sort of sense (“You can observe a lot just by looking”; “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded”).

  APPENDIX IV

  Chronology

  B.C.

  425 Gorgias, an itinerant Sophist, or professional rhetorician, wows Athens with his speechmaking.

  385 Plato publishes Gorgias, an anti-rhetorical screed written in highly rhetorical language.

  332 Aristotle publishes his Rhetoric, the greatest work on the subject ever written.

  106 Birth of Marcus Tullius Cicero.

  100 Birth of Caius Julius Caesar.

  100 Ad Herennium (For Herennius) published. The most popular rhetoric textbook during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. People attributed it to Cicero (and some still do), but he was a small boy when the book was written.

  75 Cicero joins the Roman Senate.

  63 Cicero, in his role as consul, puts down a major conspiracy by an aristocrat named Catiline.

  59 Julius Caesar becomes a Roman consul.

  55 Cicero writes On the Orator (De Oratore), his masterpiece.

  48 Caesar becomes dictator of Rome.

  46 Marcus Porcius Cato commit
s suicide; the thought of it would drive the American founders crazy.

  44 Caesar assassinated.

  43 Cicero killed.

  A.D.

  93 A Spaniard named Quintilian writes a textbook on rhetoric that would be used through Shakespeare’s time.

  426 Augustine, who took early retirement as a rhetoric professor, writes On Christian Doctrine. It criticizes rhetoric while using its principles.

  524 Boethius writes The Consolation of Philosophy while awaiting execution for treason. Promoting Christianity with classical rhetorical methods, the book becomes the most widely published book in Europe.

  630 Isidore of Seville, Europe’s greatest scholar during the Middle Ages, writes Etymologide, the world’s first encyclopedia. He introduces Aristotle to his fellow Spaniards and helps create the beginnings of representative government.

  782 Alcuin of York teaches rhetoric to Charlemagne.

  1444 George of Trebizond writes a rhetoric book and helps bring the classics to Europe. The Renaissance begins.

  1512 Desiderius Erasmus, one of the greatest scholars of all time, writes De Copia (On Abundance), celebrating the richness of language. Erasmus discovered a number of ancient rhetorical manuscripts.

  1555 Petrus Ramus, a French scholar, separates logical argument from rhetoric, reducing the discipline to one of style. The founders of Harvard were followers of Ramus, who was burned at the stake as a heretic.

  1577 Henry Peacham publishes The Garden of Eloquence, which becomes the standard textbook for figures of speech. You can still buy it.

  1776 Rhetorically trained Thomas Jefferson drafts the Declaration of Independence.

  1787 Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay write a series of letters to New York newspapers in favor of ratifying the Constitution. The letters, now called The Federalist, are a font of rhetorical principles.