The Toulmin ModelA Tool for Understanding Argument

The Toulmin Model

Make some inferences based on this picture.

Possible Inferences

O The lady is the child’s mother because…

O It is a hot day because…

O The lady is middle to upper class because…

O It is summer because…

Claim- Support- Warrant

The lady is the child’s mother because she is holding the child’s hand.

Mothers often hold their children’s hands to protect them.

The lady is middle to upper class because she is talking on her cell phone.

Cell phones are expensive, so they are typically owned by people in the middle to upper class.

It is summer because the little boy is wearing shorts.

Temperatures are hot during the summer, so people wear lighter clothing.

Why Warrants are Necessary

It is hot outside because the lady is holding an

umbrella.

Why is it so necessary to explicitly state your

warrant in this argument?

Stephen Toulmin

O Stephen Toulmin, originally a

British logician, is now a

professor at USC. He became

frustrated with the inability of

formal logic to explain everyday

arguments, which prompted

him to develop his own model

of practical reasoning.

Basic Elements of the ToulminMethod

Claim = Your assertion or your argument

Support/ Data = Your evidence, reasons, or

grounds for the claim

Warrant = The assumption necessarily shared

by the speaker and the audience

Backing = Support for the warrant

Claims

O A claim is the point an arguer is trying to make. The

claim is the conclusion, proposition, or assertion an

arguer wants another to accept.

O The claim answers the question, "So what is your

point?”

O The Claim is the thesis of your paper. As you develop

your claim you will need sub-claims, or ideas or points

that support your overall claim, to make your

argument.

More about claims...

O There are four basic types of claims:

O fact: claims which focus on empirically verifiable

phenomena

O judgment/value: claims involving opinions, attitudes,

and subjective evaluations of things

O policy: claims advocating courses of action that

should be undertaken

O definition/classification: indicates what criteria are

being used to to define a term or what category

something falls into

Evidence (proof or data)O Evidence refers to the proof an arguer offers.

O Evidence can consist of statistics, quotations,

reports, findings, physical evidence, or various

forms of reasoning

More about evidence...

O Evidence is the support the arguer offers on behalf of

his/her claim. The evidence answer questions such

as:

O "What is your proof?“

O "How do you know?“

O "Why?”

Still more about evidence...

O Evidence can be based on:

O facts, statistics, reports, or physical proof

O source credibility: authorities, experts, celebrity

endorsers, a close friend, or someone's say-so

O analysis and reasoning: reasons may be offered as

proof

O premises already held by the listener

Clue words for identifying evidence

O The evidence for an argument often follows

words such as “because,” “since,” “given

that…”

O example: “Airports should x-ray all luggage

because a bomb could be placed in a checked

baggage.”

O example: “I expect to do well on the test, since I

studied all night for it.”

WarrantsO The warrant is the inferential leap that

connects the claim with the evidence.

O The inferential leap “links” the evidence and the claim, or how the evidence leads you to your claim

O The warrant is typically implicit (unstated) and requires the listener to recognize the connection between the claim and evidence

O Note: This is not always the case. There are times when you need to spell it out exactly for the listener otherwise the connection is unclear.

More about warrants...

O warrants can be based on:

O ethos: source credibility, authority

O logos: reason-giving, induction, deduction

O pathos: emotional or motivational appeals

O value premises: values shared by, or presumed to

be shared by, the receiver(s)

O note: these categories aren't mutually exclusive,

there is considerable overlap among the three

The Toulmin Graphic Organizer

Data Claim

Warrant

Backing

A Sample Argument

ClaimSupport/ Data/

Grounds

Warrant

The Angels are likely

to win the ballgame

tonight

They are playing

at home

Generalization: The

home team enjoys an

advantage in baseball

Backing?

Practice

O Color code the sentences on your worksheet

according to the claim, support/data,

warrant, and backing. Not all elements will

always be present.

Color Coded Sentences

People should become vegetarians because vegetarianism is a healthy choice since it eliminates the cholesterol from red meat.

Since slaughtering animals for food is cruel, people should become vegetarians.

Million Dollar Baby won several Academy Awards. Since world-renowned movie experts choose these awards, they are evidence of a movie’s greatness. Therefore, Million Dollar Baby is an excellent film.

Counter Argument

O For an argument to be effective, the arguer

must provide a counter argument, or

acknowledge what someone of the opposing

argument would believe

O The counter argument shows that the arguer

has taken both sides into consideration,

which helps eliminate the argument from

being strictly one sided.

Rebuttal

O After providing a counter argument, the

arguer can then give a rebuttal, or explain

why the counter argument fails to hold up.

O The arguer is explaining why his/her stance

is still valid despite what the other side

claims to be true.

Why should we care about this method?

O It is NOT as important that you can accurately identify each part of the Toulmin method.

O It IS important that you recognize the importance of warrants for your own writing.

O It IS valuable and useful to attempt to label arguments according to the Toulmin method so we can understand how arguments are structured.