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Blog Post 3- Chapter 4


In chapter 4 we take a look at the importance of understanding argument structures. We are able to look at the Toulmin model. It is a tool that is used to analyze an argument to see the components of one. The model is made up of several different filters to which we can look at an argument. According to the model an argument must have a claim, grounds, warrant, backing, qualifier, and rebuttal/reservation. This tool allows us to analyze an argument and ask the question “Is this a good argument?”. I think this is important because without any criteria as talked about before in chapter 2, an argument won’t have standards to which it has to meet.
Also in chapter 4 we take a look at the reasoning processes and what the commonplaces of the reasoning’s are. There are several commonplaces which “Constitute the basis of most arguments” as according to the textbook. (Pg. 57). The processes are, logic or deduction, generalization, cause, sign, analogy and authority. I will look deeper into the process of sign and what that means for an argument.
An argument by sign “Is based on a warrant that most things, conditions, or ideas have characteristics that will signal their presence” (Pg. 62.). It is closely in relation with but not the result of cause or effect. According to the textbook “Two phenomena vary together such that one may be the cause of the other or they both may be the result of an external cause” (Pg.62). For example, students who get A’s and B’s in college have to read and study for 5-6 hours daily. This example argument can be looked at through signals. The signal that indicates whether or not a student does good in college is by the effort they put into their readings and studying. It is a trajectory that can be predicted based on the fact that the more time you put into something, the better you will get. That is what argument by sign is, the prediction of the outcome from the common trends taking place.

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