Explores methods by which people argue about human understanding. Discusses the empirical, personal, and linguistic dimensions of understanding and the logical, rhetorical, and dialectical perspectives on argument. Considers the either/or and the both/and approaches to arguing and suggests that the both/and mode be employed more often. (PD)

Examines the nature of persuasion as it occurs in theater. Suggests that theater is not only a fine art but also a rhetorical form and, as such, functions on three levels (text, performed work, and production). (PD)

Presents study designed to explore whether warning people about the possibility of future misinformation would increase their resistance to that misinformation. Results show exposure to a warning just prior to presentation of misinformation resulted in slightly greater resistance to its suggestive effects, but warnings after misinformation had…

This reply to Kelly's critique of the author's "Logic" monograph (TM505882) concedes that what the evaluator persuades the audience of must be true. However, the evaluator's intent is to inform the course of action without expecting to determine fully the decision maker's judgment. (Author/RL)

Analyzes the argumentational structure of a legal document. (AM)

Describes key issues pertaining to research on persuasion and conceptual change, exploring: (1) the legitimacy and aims of persuasive discourse in educational contexts; (2) the interplay of message and person characteristics; and (3) the integration of research methods to investigate change through persuasion. (SLD)

Investigates the effectiveness of humor in advertising, comparative advertising, and consumer involvement with the product. Finds that humorous ads are more eye catching but less impressive and less sufficient in information than nonhumorous ads. Finds the performance of comparative ads is generally negative and especially so in the high…

Argues that the rhetorical action of Edmund Burke's classic defense of political parties is its inducement to see that, by interpreting political culture as he does, reader and author collaborate in the recovery of public virtue. (RS)

Asks whether different kinds of arguments are essentially similar or different. Considers three kinds of argument as potentially the primary argument. Rejects each, concluding that these kinds of argument are fundamentally similar. Focuses on the ideas of publicness, sociality, and cognition, assuming these to be the main possibilities for…

Outlines Richard M. Weaver's theory of argument, noting that an important aspect of his rhetorical theory involves specific recommendations for conservatives. Assesses Weaver's rhetoric in terms of his own theory, and concludes that Weaver's rhetoric did not closely follow his advice for conservatives. (MM)

Discusses different views of regarding the body as a discursive site. Describes the articles in this special issue that suggest people's bodies are important and powerful sources of assertion and contention and that they provoke gains in identity and power. Discusses the character of argument itself by considering bodies as sources and sites of…

Discusses how a recent fashion trend known as "heroin chic" challenges conventional modes of argumentation. Considers how its popularization of abject, emaciated bodies presents an alternative to a logic of rationalism that grounds traditional argumentation. Discusses how by foregrounding corporeal performativity as a form of argument,…

Argues that Robert Scott's landmark 1967 essay sets in motion a constitutive model of rhetorical effectivity. States Scott's essay belongs to a disciplinary history that brings forth a central preoccupation with the ethical problematization of rhetorical practices from an aesthetic point of view. Discusses how this aesthetic turn transforms the…

Why has music education needed to argue for its worth as part of schooling? Several answers have existed, attempting to demonstrate that music is more than "what comes naturally", that it deserves to be studied as all other school subjects are, and that its benefits require clear and thoughtful explanation. While valid, these answers focus…