# From persuasion to reasoned judgement ## Seminar plan (90 minutes) An argument can be persuasive and still contain a gap. These stations move from claim and reason through the structure of an inference to what remains open. > Which reasons support a judgement, and under which conditions must it be revised? ## Learning objectives - Identify claim, reason and implicit warrant. - Test counterexamples and an argument’s scope. - Formulate an open question without treating missing knowledge as proof. Audience: Approximately ages 16+, advanced school groups, higher education and adult learning. Prerequisites and access: Read short specialist texts; distinguish statement, observation and interpretation. Responses may be spoken, written or given as an annotated sketch. ## Case study Fictional exercise written for this material. Not empirical data. An imagined study group recommends a new learning app: “Since using it, our results have improved. Nobody has proved that it does not help. Therefore everyone should use it.” Previous study time, task differences and alternative explanations are not given. ## Schedule 10 min introduction · 25 concept analysis · 25 source comparison · 20 discussion · 10 open questions ## Assignment 1. Separate the three sentences into observation, asserted reason and recommendation. Mark one implicit warrant. 2. Compare argumentation and argument from ignorance. Explain why absence of disproof establishes neither effectiveness nor ineffectiveness. 3. Write a qualified recommendation, a possible exception and a testable next investigative step. ## Source examination Open at least one complete Atlas profile and select a reference listed there. Record title, locator where available and documented scope. Separate your inference from what the reference actually supports. A reference alone does not establish every statement in a profile. ## Stations ### 1. Argumentation The linking of claims and reasons in pursuit of justified assent. Formulate a claim and the reason why someone should accept it. Record the two separately. **Working question:** What exactly is being justified, and on what grounds? https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-CORE-238-032 Read the definition and distinctions in the linked full profile. Which statement is supported by its documented reference, and which arises only from your comparison with the exercise? Response / evidence / counterexample: ____________________ References from the existing Atlas profile: - W02 · Metzler Lexikon Sprache · PDF-Seiten 76, 77, 129, 138, 139 · Volltext-/Artikelabgleich Documented scope: Offenes Beziehungsnetz → Grundbegriffsprüfung → Metzler/HWRh-Abgleich → ATLAS_238 - W03.1 · Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik, Band 1 · PDF-Seiten 5, 7, 28, 52, 55 · Volltext-/Artikelabgleich Documented scope: Offenes Beziehungsnetz → Grundbegriffsprüfung → Metzler/HWRh-Abgleich → ATLAS_238 ### 2. Toulmin model of argument The Toulmin model distinguishes data, claim, warrant, backing, qualifier and conditions of exception within an argument. Examine the move from data to claim. The model helps frame questions without deciding the answer in advance. **Working question:** Which warrant remains implicit in a short newspaper argument? https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-ADD-20261016-0005 Read the definition and distinctions in the linked full profile. Which statement is supported by its documented reference, and which arises only from your comparison with the exercise? Response / evidence / counterexample: ____________________ References from the existing Atlas profile: - Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik, Bd. 1, Artikel „Argument“; hg. von Gert Ueding, Tübingen: Max Niemeyer 1992. Sp. 899–900; PDF-Seite 458, mit anschließendem Vorbehalt im Referenztext Documented scope: Sechs Komponenten im Toulmin-Schema; Diagramm zusätzlich als Seitenbild geprüft. Keine direkte Volllektüre von The Uses of Argument behauptet. | Original Atlas applications remain separate. - Cambridge University Press: Stephen E. Toulmin, The Uses of Argument, aktualisierte Ausgabe — https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/the-uses-of-argument/26CF801BC12004587B66778297D5567C Documented scope: Kein behaupteter Volltextzugang zum gesamten Buch. Die sechs Modellkomponenten werden über die bereits geprüfte HWRh-Passage belegt. | Original Atlas applications remain separate. - Atlas der Sprache: Vergleichsstand Release 15.8.0 / Sites 352 Documented scope: Arbeitsbasis des zuletzt in diesem Chat veröffentlichten Stands, keine neue vollständige Produktivinventur und kein unabhängiger wissenschaftlicher Beleg. | Original Atlas applications remain separate. ### 3. Argument from ignorance An argument from ignorance takes the absence of disproof or confirmation as support for declaring a claim true or false. Examine the treatment of missing knowledge. Uncertainty and refutation are different states. **Working question:** How can a statement be rewritten if it infers certainty from the absence of disproof? https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-ADD-20261016-0003 Read the definition and distinctions in the linked full profile. Which statement is supported by its documented reference, and which arises only from your comparison with the exercise? Response / evidence / counterexample: ____________________ References from the existing Atlas profile: - Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik, Bd. 1, Artikel „Argument“; hg. von Gert Ueding, Tübingen: Max Niemeyer 1992. Sp. 897–900 und 903–904; PDF-Seiten 457–458 und 460 Documented scope: Historische Erörterung von ad ignorantiam, ad verecundiam, ad populum; a-fortiori-Beispiel. Die engeren heutigen Arbeitsschwerpunkte sind als solche markiert. | Original Atlas applications remain separate. - John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book IV, Chapter XVII, §§ 19–22 — https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10616/pg10616.html Documented scope: Historische Formulierungen nicht als deckungsgleich mit jeder späteren Fehlschlussdefinition behandeln. Keine historischen Erstbelegsbehauptungen. | Original Atlas applications remain separate. - Atlas der Sprache: Vergleichsstand Release 15.8.0 / Sites 352 Documented scope: Arbeitsbasis des zuletzt in diesem Chat veröffentlichten Stands, keine neue vollständige Produktivinventur und kein unabhängiger wissenschaftlicher Beleg. | Original Atlas applications remain separate. ### 4. Evidence The degree to which a claim is supported by proof or compelling grounds. Return to the source and note which part of the claim it actually supports. **Working question:** Which alternative explanation also fits the available data? https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-CORE-238-038 Read the definition and distinctions in the linked full profile. Which statement is supported by its documented reference, and which arises only from your comparison with the exercise? Response / evidence / counterexample: ____________________ References from the existing Atlas profile: - W02 · Metzler Lexikon Sprache · PDF-Seiten 98, 100, 321, 540, 741 · Volltext-/Artikelabgleich Documented scope: Offenes Beziehungsnetz → Grundbegriffsprüfung → Metzler/HWRh-Abgleich → ATLAS_238 - W03.1 · Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik, Band 1 · PDF-Seiten 8, 245, 333, 388, 390 · Volltext-/Artikelabgleich Documented scope: Offenes Beziehungsnetz → Grundbegriffsprüfung → Metzler/HWRh-Abgleich → ATLAS_238 - The Historical Thesaurus of English (2nd edn., version 5.0). 2026. University of Glasgow. Category 02.02.06.03|04 n.; node 123444. Accessed 11 September 2026. — https://ht.ac.uk/category/#id=123444 Documented scope: HTE finding: HTE distributes evidence across proof, testimony, legal evidence and indication branches. Atlas interpretation: Atlas defines both degree of support and supporting material in argumentation; the selected HTE proof-instance node covers only one portion. OED entry/sense identity not established. ## Seminar questions - Which assumption connects your evidence to your claim? - Is the absence of a counterargument already positive evidence? - Which objection changes the strength of your judgement, and which changes its content? ## Extension Apply the six Toulmin components to the example. Explicitly mark missing backing and data rather than supplying them. ## Research boundary These working questions are exercises. They are not experimental findings and do not replace specialist assessment of a particular dispute. ## Citation Michael Reich: From persuasion to reasoned judgement. Seminar plan (90 minutes). Atlas der Sprache / Atlas of Language. Material version atlas-260-20261017-04, 2026-10-17. Data basis: ATLAS 260; Source release 15.9.1. https://atlasoflanguage.com/study/streit-und-gruende?mode=seminar Accessed: ____________________ Checkpoint: atlas-260-expansion15c-20261016-checkpoint Manifest SHA-256: 8b36a386dbea6c48bbeb3fefe730c2128333a06e5ad847521e673a3bfbe82f92 Cases, sequence and tasks are original learning materials. They establish no new catalogue relations. Existing references do not imply a new full reading here. Source rights remain with their respective holders. Versioned research edition. No DOI or external archival deposit is documented.