Logic and Argumentation are central to persuasive communication
Communication is an extremely important factor in our lives and much of the time is spent trying to persuade others towards our views. Logic and argumentation are central to persuasive communication. This document will outline the purpose of persuasive communication and its structure. Persuasive communication will be defined in a way that the main objective of persuasion is to convince the audience of the thesis, the thesis being the conclusion of a discourse. An integral part of persuasive communication is argumentation and its format will be discussed. In order for a document to be persuasive it will be shown that it is necessary for it to contain a valid argument that lends support to the conclusion. The basic structure of an argument will be explained. It should be noted, however, that in the scope of this essay it is not appropriate to define all possible types of argumentation, so only the elements common to all arguments will be identified. The importance of logic will be shown with relevance to the way that it is used to identify valid arguments. Again it is necessary to limit the scope of the essay to defining logic within argumentation. Fallacies will be defined and it will be shown how arguments containing them fail t
To persuade a reader or listener towards a certain point of view the argument that forms the base for a conclusion must be valid. There are different types of premises that can be used to construct an argument, but the main thing to consider when including a premise in an argument is whether or not it lends support to the conclusion. For example it is no good including the premise "Whales are large mammals" in our elephant argument because it does not support the statement that "Elephants are the largest land animals". "A valid argument is one where the premises necessitate the conclusion" (Scott 1998, p.80). From this quote it can be seen that the conclusion stands purely on the premises. The same point is put much clearer by Lewis (1994, p.84) where he explains a valid argument as one in which, if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true. It is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion not to be. Valid arguments are central for constructing persuasive communication. The statements that make up a valid argument should be connected logically in order to be persuasive. Tyler, S., Kossen, C. & Ryan, C. 1999, Communication: a foundation course, Skills for the Information Age. 2nd edn, Mcgraw-Hill, Roseville. Arguing involves developing a set of statements that support and lead to a conclusion. This method of communicating is central to persuasive communication. From a communication perspective arguing is not seen as two or more people erratically yelling at each other, it is the method of using premises to support a conclusion so that the audience is led to agree with the thesis. A good argument is described by Guttenplan (1997, p.21) as one that is suitable as a means of persuading someone of the truth of its conclusion. Convincing people of the veracity of an argument is the way to succeed in persuading them of the conclusion. Premises are the heart of an argument. Without premises you do not have an argument you have a statement. This is supported by Clark (1994, pg 106) where he states "Premises are necessary within an argument, without them you will only be stating a fact. This fact may not be believed by the audience if there is an absence of suitable supporting premises". If, for example, we say, "elephants are the largest animals on land" by itself this does not comprise an argument, it is simply a statement. If our aim is to convince someone that elephants are the largest land animals we must prove to them that this is true by basing this statement on one or more premises. For example "Horses are big but elephants are bigger" and "The encyclopedia Britannica states that the
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Approximate Word count = 1775
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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