Good Faith Argument

Ryan Skinnell

San Jose State University

2-3 Weeks

Papers: Rhetorical Analysis, Argument

It isn’t just demagogues who argue unfairly. It’s all of us from time to time. Students learn to identify and work against bad-faith argument.

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Is “reasoned and reasonable” public discourse a thing of the past? Building on Patricia Roberts-Miller’s notions on demagoguery and democracy, Ryan Skinnell (San Jose State University) introduces students to key concepts in argumentation that establish a framework for crafting good-faith arguments and bolstering critical thinking skills.

“Demagogic argument” isn’t limited to just dictators and demagogues, of course. Rather, they just use a public version of traps we all can fall into. Skinnell’s “Good-Faith Argument” uses awareness of the demagogic as a counterpoint for how student writers might approach argument more deliberately–and, of course, more ethically.


table of contents

Introduction

Welcome to Good-Faith Argument

The Critical Thinking Scaffold

Lesson 1: Argument and Democracy 

Argument and Democracy

Argument in a Democratic Society 

Analyzing Argument

Video: “Jon Stewart on Crossfire” (YouTube.com, 2004)

Lesson 2: Rhetoric and Argument

Key Concepts

Rhetoric and Argument

Rhetoric and Argument: Historical Context

Demagoguery

Podcast: “Roberts-Miller: Demagoguery and Democracy” (from Mere Rhetoric, 2017)

Commonplaces

Summing Up, Looking Forward

Lesson 3: Epideictic Rhetoric

Key Concepts

Encomium and Invective

Encomium and Invective: The Importance of Dignity and the Pleasure of Name-Calling

Peer Review

Lesson 4: Deliberation

Key Concepts

Team Thinking: Democratic Deliberation

Team Thinking: The Problem with Squad Goals 

Deliberation versus Demagoguery

Article: “Roberts-Miller: Demagoguery and Democracy” (from Mere Rhetoric, 2017)

Lesson 5: Fallacies

Key Concepts

Activities: Exploring Rhetorical Fallacies 

Website: “Rhetological Fallacies: A List of Logical Fallacies and Rhetorical Devices with Examples,” from Information Is Beautiful, accessed 2019

Lesson 6: Self-Skepticism

Key Concepts

Activities: Practicing Self-Skepticism

Lesson 7: End of Unit Assignments

Final Assignment: Report Someone’s Argument Accurately

Speech: Ben Tillman, “‘Their Own Hotheadedness’: Senator Benjamin R. ‘Pitchfork Ben’ Tillman Justifies Violence Against Southern Blacks”

Speech: William Jennings Bryan, “Cross of Gold”

Speech: Richard Nixon, “Checkers”

Speech: Cleon’s speech, “Mytilenean Debate” (in Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Book 3, 37-40)

Note-Taking for the Final Assignment

In-class Activity: Peer Review

Reflecting on the Final Assignment

Looking Forward

Index of Readings and Media

William Jennings Bryan, “Cross of Gold,” from History Matters, accessed 2019 [Speech]

Cleon, “Mytilenean Debate,” as appears in Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, from YouTube, 2015 [Video]

Mary Hedengren, “Roberts-Miller: Demagoguery and Democracy,” from Mere Rhetoric, 2017 [Article]

“Jon Stewart on Crossfire,” from YouTube, 2004 [Video]

Richard Nixon, “Checkers,” from YouTube, original 1952 [Video]

“Rhetological Fallacies: A List of Logical Fallacies and Rhetorical Devices with Examples” from Information Is Beautiful, accessed 2019 [Website]

“Roberts-Miller: Demagoguery and Democracy,” from Mere Rhetoric, 2017 [Podcast]

Benjamin Tillman, “‘Their Own Hotheadedness’: Senator Benjamin R. ‘Pitchfork Ben’ Tillman Justifies Violence Against Southern Blacks,” from History Matters, accessed 2019 [Speech]