Building on the Classical Argument

P.A. McCabe-RemmellDepartment of EnglishUniversity of South Florida

Stephen E. Toulmin

Stephen Edelston Toulmin is a philosopher and rhetorical theorist. He was born in England in 1922 and received his Bachelor’s degree at King’s College. After World War II he obtained his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Cambridge.

Toulmin cont.

Toulmin has taught at the University of Southern California since 1993, giving the Jefferson Lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1997.

In 1958, Toulmin offered a theory of argument that differed from the classical, Platonic absolutism, which was part of Plato’s formal logic. Toulmin believed that some aspects of rhetoric were relative and not rigidly absolute.

Claim

Toulmin’s Model

Toulmin’s model provides that there are three essential aspects to rhetorical argument:

Data

Warrant

Toulmin’s Model, cont.

Simply: A Claim is made. Data is provided in the form of

supporting facts. The Warrant connects the Data to

the Claim. For example:

Toulmin’s Model cont.

“I am an American.” (Claim) “I was born in New York State.” (Data) Anyone born in New York State is a legal

American citizen. (Warrant)

Toulmin says that the Claim and the Data cannot hold without a sufficiently strong Warrant , or, the weakest argument is the one with the weakest warrant.

Toulmin’s Model cont.

Toulmin also identified other parts to an argument.

Qualifier

Rebuttal

Backing

Toulmin’s Model cont.

While the Claim, the Data and the Warrant are essential parts to an argument, the Qualifier, the Backing and the Rebuttal are not.

The Qualifier states the strength of the claim. In our sample argument about American citizens, a Qualifier might be “Some Americans are not born in the United States. These are naturalized citizens.”

Toulmin’s Model cont.

The Rebuttal is an exception to the claim and considers counter-arguments much like the Classical model.

The Backing provides extra strength to the Warrant, especially if the Warrant is not widely accepted or understood. The Backing defends the Warrant.

Toulmin’s Model cont.

Arranged in graphic format, the Toulmin Model looks like this:

Conclusion Toulmin developed this model so scholars

and rhetoricians (including public speakers and members of the legal community) could analyze arguments easily.

If one can identify different parts of the argument one can compare claims, data, warrants, etc., in order to establish one argument’s validity over another or if two arguments are equally valid. Try identifying each aspect of Toulmin’s model in your own work!