Argumentation and Critical Decision Making

by Richard D. Rieke, Malcolm O. Sillars

The first and most thoroughly developed audience-oriented argumentation text, Argumentation and Critical Decision Making presents argumentation as a cooperative, communicative process. The text examines the general principles of argument in a rigorous yet readable manner and then applies those principles to different spheres of life—law, science, religion, business, and politics—to explore how conventions of argument change when applied to these real world arenas. Focusing on the dynamics of decision-making and using real life examples to illustrate principles, this book aims to help readers develop practical argumentation skills within the world of their daily lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Communication, Philosophy

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[evil]

Me, like so many others, read this as a textbook for a course. For that purpose I suppose it did its job: now I know a hell of a lot more about argumentation, and most importantly I know the theoretical base of it. Perhaps I’ll pass this course 🤞

Personally I think there were some really cringe examples that didn’t exactly make it easier to understand the content but hey, that’s life. Also since this was written for the American folk it certainly had some traits and issues that don’t necessarily have such a big role in other societies. Nevertheless the opposing examples were a good way to show how argumentation really works in real life.

[John Sorensen]

A textbook for Speech 332. Well organized. I liked the explanation of spheres, and especially chapter 14 about argumentation in government, a MUST reread.

[Kristen Beck]

Textbook for COMM 1270. It helped a lot in learning how to dissect argument and how to write your own.

[Wandering Scribe]

Read it for a course. It was mind-numbingly dull in both presentation and narration.