Location
Room 1
Document Type
Paper
Keywords
argument, persuasion, effective persuasion, argue
Start Date
5-6-2020 10:00 AM
End Date
5-6-2020 11:00 AM
Abstract
Arguments intended to persuade have a chequered success record. Quite aside from failing to resolve deep disagreements, they are an inefficient means of persuasion in commerce and politics. The persistence of competing schools of thought in numerous fields of scientific and scholarly theorizing, despite argued advocacy, also raises questions about arguing’s persuasive effectiveness. Yet humans are irredeemably reason-expecting and reason-giving creatures. This paper offers some possible explanations of this paradoxical situation.
Reader's Reactions
Michel Dufour, Commentary on: Tony Blair’s “The Persuasive Ineffectiveness of Arguing and Arguments” (June 2020)
Included in
The persuasive ineffectiveness of arguing and arguments
Room 1
Arguments intended to persuade have a chequered success record. Quite aside from failing to resolve deep disagreements, they are an inefficient means of persuasion in commerce and politics. The persistence of competing schools of thought in numerous fields of scientific and scholarly theorizing, despite argued advocacy, also raises questions about arguing’s persuasive effectiveness. Yet humans are irredeemably reason-expecting and reason-giving creatures. This paper offers some possible explanations of this paradoxical situation.
