Course Information:
Course: Comm 322
Syllabus by: Omri Ceren
Instructor: Omri Ceren
Email: ceren@usc.edu
Course Description: Over 2,500 years ago, Plato challenged the rhetoricians: “if thou continuest to take delight in idle argumentation thou mayest be qualified to combat with the sophists, but will never know how to live with men.” This course will attempt to answer Plato’s challenge by situating argument at the center of lived social experience. We will explore how argument shapes the political, ethical, and cultural lives that we live.
Course Goals: The goal of this class is to enhance the student’s ability to critically evaluate and effectively deploy argument. Toward that end, this course will seek to:
(1) Develop a robust background in contemporary controversies.
(2) Offer a rigorous understanding of argumentation theory.
(3) Apply argumentation theory to contemporary controversies, with the goal of unpacking and critiquing political and cultural texts.
Course Texts:
∧ Hollihan, Thomas A., and Kevin T. Baaske. Arguments and Arguing: The Products and Process of Human Decision Making, Second Edition. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 2004.
∧ Other readings are posted on the course webpage
Schedule:
Syllabus Day∧ Due: Email contact info (name and email) to Omri
Where Does Argument Live?
∧ Read: “Three Perspectives On Argument” by Joseph Wenzel
∧ Read: “Controversy” by G. Thomas Goodnight
Logic
∧ Read: Ch 6 pgs. 95-106
∧ Read: “Statements, truth values and truth tables”
∧ Read: “Discrete Mathematics Web Course Material”, sect. 3A “Introduction To Logic”, 3B1 “Introduction to Propositional Logic”, and 3B2 “Proposition”
Syllogisms
∧ Read: “Aristotle’s Logic”, sect. 1-5, in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
∧ Read: “Venn Diagrams of Standard Form Categorical Propositions”
What is Persuasive? Different Modes of Proof
∧ Read Ch 1
∧ Read: Rhetoric I, Ch 1-2, by Aristotle
Stasis Points
∧ Read: Ch 5
∧ Read: “Online Guide To Ethics And Moral Philosophy – Classical Rhetoric” by Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee
∧ Read: De Inventione I, Ch 8-23, by Cicero
The Grounds for Argument & Fallacies
∧ Read: Ch 7
∧ Read: Ch 9 (esp. 164-168)
The State Of The Art In The Study Of Fallacies
∧ Read: “A Systematic Theory Of Argumentation,” Ch 2 and Ch 7, by Frans H. Van Eemeren and Rob Grootendorst
Types of Audiences
∧ Read: Ch 3
∧ Read: Rhetoric II, Ch 12-17 by Aristotle
Beyond Aristotle’s Taxonomy
∧ Read: “The Second Persona” by Edwin Black
The Toulmin Model
∧ Read: Ch 6, pgs. 107-111
∧ Read: “Toulmin on Argument” by Wayne Brockriede and Douglas Ehninger
Field invariance vs. Field Dependency
∧- Read: “Fields of Argument and Modals” by Stephen Toulmin
Overview of Debate & Structure of Advantages and Disadvantages
∧ Read: Ch 10
∧ Due: Paper 1 (should incorporate Aristotle and Black)
Answering Advantages and Disadvantages & Defense vs. Offence
∧ Read: “The Structure Of Policy Debate”
∧ Due: Teams and Groups
Midterm
Debate Strategy: Defense vs. Offense
Debate Strategy: Evaluating Links vs. Link Turns
∧ Debate Groups
∧ Due: Group Topics
Debate Strategy: Evaluating Different Impacts
∧ Due: Paper 2 (should incorporate the Toulmin model)
Debate Strategy: Evaluating the Debate
Debate Walk-Thru
∧ Due: Paper 3 (should incorporate debate theory)
