Argumentation and Critical Decision Making (Longman Series in Rhetoric and Society)

The principles of practical reasoning integrated into real world applications is the basic premise behind Professors Richard D. Rieke and Malcom O. Sillars' fourth edition of Argumentation and Critical Decision Making. The most current theories and research are combined with classic rhetoric to effectively explain the necessary functions of decision making in any given situation. With an increased emphasis on critical thinking, Rieke and Sillars help connect critical decisions with audience values and conventions. Real life examples are used to illuminate the principles of argumentation, ranging from interpersonal discussions to formalized conventions of science and law. A new discussion of language and argumentation highlights language practices that have had the most impact on effective argumentation.

Argumentation and Critical Decision Making, 7/e

Richard D. Rieke, University of Utah

Malcolm O. Sillars, University of Utah

Tarla Rai Peterson, Texas A&M University

 

The first audience-oriented argumentation text available, Argumentation and Critical Decision Making presents argumentation as a cooperative, communicative process. This textexplores how conventions of argument change when applied to different spheres of life — law, science, religion, business, government, and politics. Focusing on the dynamics of decision making and using real-life examples to illustrate principles, Argumentation and Critical Decision Making aims to help you develop practical argumentation skills.

 

Features of the Seventh Edition:

• Features five thoroughly revised chapters on the practical application of argument, reflecting new scholarship.
• Includes a new discussion of spheres of argument, emphasizing the relationship among audience, decision makers, sphere, and argumentative practice, and identifying the forms of acceptable argument, what counts as fact, and criteria used in criticism.
• Gives greater emphasis to the role of dialectic as an explanation for why many critical decisions emerge from dialogue without the preparation of formal cases or staging of debates.
• Presents a new case study addressing IBM’s response to profound changes in technology and globalization, illustrating the function of argumentation in business.
• Analyzes a new and timely question in the unique chapter on analysis in argumentation: How should the health care system be revised in the United States?