The Language of Argument

5 1

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

The force of the guarding term “perhaps” that begins this passage disappears

at the end, where it is taken for granted that the secretary of state has not

been candid. This can be called the trick of the disappearing guard.

What is commonly called hedging is a sly device that operates in

the opposite direction from our last example. With hedging, one shifts

ground from a strong commitment to something weaker. Things, as they

say, get “watered down” or “taken back.” Strong statements made at one

stage of an argument are later weakened without any acknowledgment

that the position has thereby been changed in a significant way. A prom-

ise to pass a piece of legislation is later whittled down to a promise to

bring it to a vote.

Discounting

The general pattern of discounting is to cite a possible criticism in order to

reject it or counter it. Notice how different the following statements sound:

The ring is beautiful, but expensive.

The ring is expensive, but beautiful.

Both statements assert the same facts—that the ring is beautiful and that the

ring is expensive. Both statements also suggest that there is some opposi-

tion between these facts. Yet these statements operate in different ways. We

might use the first as a reason for not buying the ring; we can use the second

as a reason for buying it. The first sentence acknowledges that the ring is

beautiful, but overrides this by pointing out that it is expensive. In reverse

fashion, the second statement acknowledges that the ring is expensive, but

overrides this by pointing out that it is beautiful. Such assertions of the form

“A but B” thus have four components:

1. The assertion of A


2. The assertion of B


3. The suggestion of some opposition between A and B


4. The indication that the truth of B is more important than the truth of A
   The word “but” thus discounts the statement that comes before it in favor of
   the statement that follows it.
   “Although” is also a discounting connective, but it operates in reverse
   fashion from the word “but.” We can see this, using the same example:
   Although the ring is beautiful, it is expensive.
   Although the ring is expensive, it is beautiful.
   Here the statement following the word “although” is discounted in favor of
   the connected statement.

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