Composition-Rhetoric Part 59

While we must guard against insufficiency of reasons, we must not forget that numbers alone do not convince. One good reason is more convincing than several weak ones. Two or three good reasons, clearly and definitely stated, will have much more weight than a large number of less important ones.

EXERCISES

_A._ Give a reason or two in addition to the reasons already given in each of the following:--

1. It is better to attend a large college than a small one, because the teachers are as a rule greater experts in their lines of work.

2. The school board ought to give us a field for athletics as the school ground is not large enough for practice.

3. Gymnasium work ought to be made compulsory. Otherwise many who need physical training will neglect it.

4. The game of basket ball is an injury to a school, since it detracts from interest in studies.

5. Rudolph Horton will make a good cla.s.s president because he has had experience.

_B._ Be able to answer orally any two of the following:

1. Prove to a timid person that there is no more danger in riding in an automobile than there is in riding in a carriage drawn by horses. Use but one argument, but make it as strong as possible.

2. Give two good reasons why the superst.i.tion concerning Friday is absurd.

3. What, in your mind, is the strongest reason why you wish to graduate from a high school? For your wis.h.i.+ng to go into business after leaving the high school? For your wis.h.i.+ng to attend college?

4. What are two or three of the strong arguments in favor of woman suffrage? Name two or three arguments in opposition to woman suffrage.

_C._ Name all the points that you can in favor of the following. Select the one that you consider the most important.

1. Try to convince a friend that he ought to give up the practice of cigarette smoking.

2. Show that athletics in a high school ought to be under the management of the faculty.

3. Show that athletics should be under the management of the pupils themselves.

4. Macbeth's ambition and not his wife was the cause of his ruin.

5. Macbeth's wife was the cause of his ruin.

+Theme CI.+--_Select one of the subjects in the exercise above, and write out two or three of the strongest arguments in its favor._

(Consider the premises, especially those which are not expressed. Is your argument deductive or inductive?)

+183. The Basis of Belief.+--If you ask yourself, Why do I believe this?

the answer will in many cases show that your belief in the particular case under consideration arises because you believe some general principle or theory which applies to it.

One person may believe that political economy should be taught in high schools because he believes that it is the function of the high school to train its pupils for citizens.h.i.+p, and that the study of political economy will furnish this training. Another person may oppose the teaching of political economy because he believes that pupils of high school age are not sufficiently mature in judgment to discuss intelligently the principles of political economy, and that the study of these principles at that age does not furnish desirable training for citizens.h.i.+p. It is evident that an argument between these two concerning the teaching of political economy in any particular school would consist in a discussion of the conflicting general theories which each believed to be true.

We have shown in Section 179 that one high school princ.i.p.al might believe that boys should be allowed to choose their own studies because he believed that they would not generally select the easy ones; while another princ.i.p.al would oppose free electives because he believes that boys would choose the less difficult studies. The proposition that "The United States should retain its hold on the Philippines" involves conflicting theories of the function of this government. So it will be found with many of our beliefs that either consciously or unconsciously they are based on general theories. It is important in argument to know what these theories are, and especially to consider what may be the general theories of those whom we wish to convince.

+184. Appeals to General Theory, Authority, and Maxims.+--A successful argument in deductive form must be based upon principles and theories that the audience believes. A minister in preaching to the members of his church may with success proceed by deductive methods, because the members believe the general principles upon which he bases his arguments. But in addressing a mixed audience, many of whom are not church members, such an argument might not be convincing, because his hearers might deny the validity of the premises from which his conclusions were drawn. In such a case he must either keep to general theories which his auditors do believe, or by inductive methods seek to prove the truth of the general principles themselves.

If in support of our view we quote the opinion of some one whom we believe competent to speak with weight and authority upon the question, we must remember that it will have weight with our audience only if they too look upon the person as an authority. It proves nothing to a body of teachers to say that some educational expert believes as you do unless they have confidence in him as a man of sound judgment. On the other hand, it may count against a proposition to show that it has not been endorsed by any one of importance or prominence.

In a similar way a maxim or proverb may be quoted in support of a proposition. If a boy a.s.sociates with bad company, we may offer the maxim, "Birds of a feather flock together," in proof that he is probably bad too.

Such maxims or proverbs are brief statements of principles generally believed, and the use of them in an argument is in effect the presentation of a general theory in a form which appeals to the mind of the hearer and causes him to believe our proposition.

+185. Argument by Inference.+--The statement of a fact may be introduced into an argument, not because the fact itself applies directly to the proposition we wish to prove, but because it by inference suggests a general theory which does so apply. Though the reader may not be conscious of it, the presence of this general theory may influence his decision even more than the explicit statement of the general theory would.

An argument implies that there are two sides to a question. Which you shall take depends on the way you look on it, that is, on what may be called your mental point of view. Therefore any fact, allusion, maxim, comparison, or other statement which may cause you to look at the question in a different light or from a different point of view may be used as an argument. In effect, it calls up a general theory whose presence affects your decision. Notice how brief the argument is in the following selection from Macaulay:--

Many politicians of our time are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim.

If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait forever.

--Macaulay: _Milton_.

+186. Summary.+--To summarize the preceding paragraphs, the authority we quote, the maxims we state, the facts we adduce become valuable because they appeal to general theories already believed by the reader. Success in argument demands, therefore, that we consider carefully what theories may probably be in the mind of our audience, and that we present our argument in such a way as to appeal to those theories.

+Theme CII.+--_Write a short argument, using one of the following:_--

1. A young boy is urging his father to permit him to attend an entertainment. Give his reasons as he would give them to his father.

2. Suppose the father refuses the request. Write out his reasons.

3. Try to convince a companion just entering high school to take the college preparatory course instead of the commercial course.

(Are your reasons true and pertinent? To what general theories have you appealed? Consider the coherence of each paragraph.)

+187. Arrangement of Arguments.+--We have learned that in arguing we need to consider how those whom we address arrive at the belief they hold, and that it will a.s.sist us to this knowledge of others if we consider our own beliefs and the manner of their establis.h.i.+ng. We must present our material in the order that convinces. Each case may differ so from every other that no general rule can be followed, but the consideration of some general principles of arrangement will be of a.s.sistance. It is the purpose of the following paragraphs to point out in so far as possible the most effective order of arrangement.

+188. Possibility, Probability, and Actuality.+--It has been stated, in Section 175, that reasoning leads to probable truth, and that this probability may become so strong as to be accepted as certainty. In common speech this difference is borne in mind, and we distinguish a fact or event that is only possible from one that is probable; and likewise one that is only probable from one in which the probability approaches so near to certainty as to convince us that it actually did exist or occur. Our arguments may therefore be directed to proving possibility, probability, or actuality.

If we believe that an event actually occurred, the belief implies both possibility and probability. Therefore, if we wish a person to believe in the actual occurrence of an event, we must first be sure that he does not question the possibility of its existence, and then we must show him that it probably did take place. Only when we have shown that an event is extremely probable have we the right to say that we have shown its actual occurrence.

A mother finding some damage done to one of the pictures on the wall could not justly accuse her young son unless by the presence of a chair or stepladder it had been possible for him to reach the picture. This possibility, reenforced by a knowledge of his tendency to mischief, and by the fact that he was in the house at the time the damage was done, would lead to the belief that he probably was guilty. Proof that he was actually responsible for the damage would still be lacking, and it might later be discovered that the injury had been done accidentally by one of the servants.

Possibility, probability, and actuality merge into one another so gradually that no sharply defined distinctions can be observed. It is impossible to say that a certain argument establishes possibility, another probability, and a third the actuality of an event. One statement may do all three, but any proof of actuality must include arguments showing both possibility and probability. A person accused of murder attempts to demonstrate his innocence by proving an _alibi;_ that is, he attempts to show that he was at some other place at the time the murder was committed and so cannot possibly be guilty. Such an alibi, established by reliable witnesses, is positive proof of innocence, no matter how strong the evidence pointing to probable guilt may be.

+189. Argument from Cause.+--We have learned, in Section 49, that the relation of cause and effect is one which is ingrained in our nature. We accept a proposition as plausible if a cause which we consider adequate has been a.s.signed. Our belief in a proposition often depends upon our belief in some other proposition which may be accepted as a cause.