Informal Logic
Informal Logic
Second edition of the introductory guidebook to the basic principles of constructing sound arguments and criticising bad ones. Non-technical in approach, it is based on 186 examples, which Douglas Walton, a leading authority in the field of informal logic, discusses and evaluates in clear, illustrative detail. Walton explains how errors, fallacies, and other key failures of argument occur. He shows how correct uses of argument are based on sound strategies for reasoned persuasion and critical responses. This edition takes into account many developments in the field of argumentation study that have occurred since 1989, many created by the author. Drawing on these developments, Walton includes and analyzes 36 new topical examples and also brings in work on argumentation schemes. Ideally suited for use in courses in informal logic and introduction to philosophy, this book will also be valuable to students of pragmatics, rhetoric, and speech communication.
- Uses practical methods applied to everyday arguments based on a pragmatic theory
- The theory is supported by 186 examples
- Both correct and faulty uses of argument are explained, including many important kinds of errors and fallacies
Product details
August 2008Hardback
9780521886178
366 pages
218 × 142 × 25 mm
0.52kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Argument as reasoned dialogue
- 2. Questions and answers in dialogue
- 3. Criticism of irrelevance
- 4. Appeals to emotion
- 5. Valid arguments
- 6. Personal attack in argumentation
- 7. Appeals to authority
- 8. Inductive errors, bias, and fallacies
- 9. Natural language argumentation.
