Abstract
In The Uses of Argument (1958), Stephen Toulmin introduces his argumentation model. The central question in this book is which norms must be applied in evaluating argumentation. According to Toulmin, the logical criterion of formal validity is not adequate for the evaluation of arguments in everyday language because it does not take into account the specific material criteria of soundness in various fields in which these arguments occur. Using his argumentation model, Toulmin tries to show that evaluation norms are partly universal, or ‘field-invariant’ as he puts it, and partly specific, or ‘field-dependent’.
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References
Because Toulmin’s argumentation theory and its advantages and disadvantages have been discussed at length by others, I will confine myself here to a short description of the model. For or a more comprehensive discussion of Toulmin’s model, see van Eemeren et al. (1996:129–162). See also Alexy (1989:79–92), Horovitz (1972:167–175).
Outside the field of legal argumentation, there are also other applications of Toulmin’s model. See van Eemeren et al. (1996:149–153) for an overview of applications.
See Toulmin, Rieke and Janik (1984:38,46,62,86) and Snoeck Henkemans (1992:46).
Henket (1991) uses the model for practical argumentation used by Jonsen and Toulmin (1988).
Snedaker’s analysis shows that a simple argument can, in principle, be analyzed in terms of Toulmin’s model. However, she does not answer the question of how more complex forms of argument can be analyzed.
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Feteris, E.T. (1999). Toulmin’s Argumentation Model. In: Fundamentals of Legal Argumentation. Argumentation Library, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9219-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9219-2_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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