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Background
Stephen Toulmin was a British philosopher born March 22, 1922 in London, England. He earned a PhD is Philosophy from Cambridge University in 1950. He lectured at Oxford University (1949 to 1954) before moving to the University of Leeds as the department head of philosophy( 1955- 1959). He also taught in the United States across several major universities. He was an important author and contributor to philosophy until he retired. Stephen Toulmin died December 4, 2009 in California. -
Cambridge University 1950.
It was hear Toulmin earned his PhD is Philosophy. -
University of Leeds
From 1955- 1959 Dr. Toulmin would be the department head of philosophy. -
Authored The Uses of Argument - 1958
Here he criticized formal logic as abstract and a false representation of how humans conduct arguments. He challenged the claim of other academic philosophers that any significant argument can be put in formal terms. He suggests that science, logic, and ethics should be examined through the lens of real-world situations as opposed to pure thought exercises.
It is in this book Toulmin introduces the Toulmin style of argumentation. -
Toulmin Method part 2
The backing, qualifier, and rebuttal are used to improve the strength of the argument. These components are applied to make the argument stronger by adding support to the warrant (backing), elaborates on why this particular claim is unique (qualifier), and acknowledging of any other opposing view points (rebuttal). -
Toulmin Method Fundamentals
The Toulmin style of argumentation breaks arguments down into six components: claim, grounds, warrant, qualifier, rebuttal, and backing. (Purdue University). The fundamental argument components of the Toulmin Model are: Claim, Grounds, and Warrant. These components allow the speaker to state their position(claim), offer facts and evidence(grounds), and shows how they correlate(warrant). -
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Teaching career
"Toulmin held distinguished professorships at numerous universities, including Columbia, Dartmouth College, Michigan State, Northwestern, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and the University of Southern California School of International Relations" (wiki) -
Toulmin's contribution to philosophy
As we’ve discussed with Popper, it is imperative that we challenge our ideas and theories. Toulmin’s model gives a structure to properly lay out one’s claim/argument. It can be considered a framework in which one can test the validity of an argument. This enables the argument to be examined at the component level and as a whole. This in turn will allow for proper cross examination and evaluation of ideas. His model is used across mathematics, medicine, law, and various social sciences. -
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Souces
official sources are attached to the submission.
