Media argumentation : dialectic, persuasion, and rhetoric / Douglas Walton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walton, Douglas N., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reasoning.

Fallacies (Logic).

Mass media.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 386 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Summary:

Media argumentation is a powerful force in our lives. From political speeches to television commercials to war propaganda, it can effectively mobilize political action, influence the public, and market products. This book presents a new and systematic way of thinking about the influence of mass media in our lives, showing the intersection of media sources with argumentation theory, informal logic, computational theory, and theories of persuasion. Using a variety of case studies that represent arguments that typically occur in the mass media, Douglas Walton demonstrates how tools recently developed in argumentation theory can be usefully applied to the identification, analysis, and evaluation of media arguments. He draws upon the most recent developments in artificial intelligence, including dialogical theories of argument, which he developed, as well as speech act theory. Each chapter presents solutions to problems central to understanding, analyzing, and criticizing media argumentation.

Contents:

Logic, dialectic, and rhetoric

The speech act of persuasion

Propaganda

Appeals to fear and pity

Ad hominem arguments in political discourse

Arguments based on popular opinion

Fallacies and bias in public opinion polling

Persuasive definitions and public policy

Arguments

The structure of media argumentation.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 361-372) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-18279-4

1-281-15351-6

9786611153519

0-511-35521-1

0-511-61931-6

0-511-35469-X

0-511-35411-8

0-511-57394-4

0-511-35573-4

OCLC:

187394707