The Language of Argument

4 9

A P r o b l e m a n d S o m e S o l u t i o n s

Of course, no one will deny that...

It is just common sense that...

There is no question that...

Nobody but a fool would deny that...

These assurances not only do not give any reason; they also suggest that

there is something wrong with you if you ask for a reason. We call this the

trick of abusive assurances.

Just as we can give assurances that something is true, we can also give

assurances that something is false. For example,

It is no longer held that...

It is wholly implausible to suppose that...

No intelligent person seriously maintains that...

You would have to be pretty dumb to think that...

The last three examples clearly involve abusive assurances.

Although many assurances are legitimate, we as critics should always

view assurances with some suspicion. People tend to give assurances only

when they have good reasons to do so. Yet assuring remarks often mark the

weakest parts of the argument, not the strongest. If someone says “I hardly

need argue that... ,” it is often useful to ask why she has gone to the trou-

ble of saying this. When we distrust an argument—as we sometimes do—

this is precisely the place to look for weakness. If assurances are used, they

are used for some reason. Sometimes the reason is a good one. Sometimes,

however, it is a bad one. In honest argumentation, assurances save time and

simplify discussion. In a dishonest argument, they are used to paper over

cracks.

GUARDING

Guarding represents a different strategy for protecting premises from attack.

We reduce our claim to something less strong. Thus, instead of saying “all,”

we say “many.” Instead of saying something straight out, we use a qualify-

ing phrase, such as “it is likely that.. .” or “it is very possible that... .” Law

school professors like the phrase “it is arguable that... .” This is wonder-

fully noncommittal, for it does not indicate how strong the argument is, yet

it does get the statement into the discussion.

Broadly speaking, there are three main ways of guarding what we say:

1. Weakening the extent of what has been said: retreating from “all” to
   “most” to “a few” to “some,” and so on.


2. Introducing probability phrases such as “It is virtually certain that... ,”
   “It is likely that... ,” “It might happen that... ,” and so on.


3. Reducing our level of commitment: moving from “I know that.. .” to “I

97364_ch03_ptg01_041-058.indd 49 11/14/13 1:53 PM

some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materiallyCopyright 201^3 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights,

affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.