ENGLISH FOR
ACADEMIC AND
PROFESSIONAL
PURPOSES
Module 11
WRITING A
POSITION
PAPER Logical
Appeals
(The Use of Evide
nce
and Logical Reas
oning)
Logical Appeals
In order to make o
ur position paper
convincing, it is im
portant to be
able to back up ou
r claim with
sound reasons or a
rguments and
adequate support.
LOGICAL APPEALS
ARGUMENTS
Arguments explain why a claim is correct and
believable. They are usually generalizations that
are made on the basis of supporting evidence,
such as facts, comparisons, examples, and the
writer’s experiences, as early mentioned.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
Transitivity Generalization
Incompatibility Examples
Reciprocity Cause
Comparison Sign
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
1 Argument from Transitivity
- This involves three terms associated
through the process of classification. In
this type of argument, two classification
statements serve as premises which then
serve as the basis for the argument,
presented in the form of a conclusion.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
1 Argument from Transitivity
Example:
As an antioxidant, coffee is an “anticancer substance”.
The three terms are “antioxidant”, “anticancer substance”, and
coffee. They are linked together through the following
statements that serve as premises:
1. Antioxidants are anticancer substances.
2. Coffee is an antioxidant.
3. And the conclusion: Therefore, coffee is an anticancer
substance.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
2 Argument from Incompatibility
This type of argument presents two contradictory
choices, such that the choice of one means the
exclusion of the other.
Example:
President X cannot be pro-education as he claims to be. He
reduced the education budget by half.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
3 Argument from Reciprocity
This argument says that individuals and
situations that can be put together under the
same category should be treated in the same
way.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
3 Argument from Reciprocity
Example:
A person who is born in the Philippines and who has Filipino
parents is classified as a citizen of the Philippines. As a citizen,
such a person enjoys certain privileges reserved only for a
country’s citizens, such as the right to own any property in the
Philippines. Now suppose a foreigner goes through certain legal
processes and becomes classified as a Filipino citizen.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
4 Argument from Comparison
This argues that two situations will have the
same outcome because of the similarities
between these situations.
A B A B
C D C ?
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
4 Argument from Comparison
Example:
The RH Law will lead to the legalization of abortion
in the Philippines. This was the case in Vietnam which
enacted a similar law many years ago.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
5 Argument from Generalization
In argument from generalization, we use one
member of a population to make conclusions
about the entire population. We encounter this
argument all the time.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
5 Argument from Generalization
Example:
You might have said that “All people of [a place] are
[good, bad, honest, dishonest, etc.]” because of an
experience that you had with a person from that place.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
6 Argument from Examples
Argument from examples is similar to
argument from generalization but instead of
using only one member as basis, in argument
from examples you use a group of examples -a
sample- from that population to serve as your
basis.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
6 Argument from Examples
Example:
Cartoons expose children to excessive violence. Shows like Tom
and Jerry, Boo-hoo Bunny, and the Mighty Girls show an average
of seventeen violent acts (e.g. punching, kicking, hitting with an
instrument) per episode.
To test arguments from examples, we must ask this question: Is
there a sufficient number of examples to justify the conclusion?
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
7 Argument from Cause
An argument from cause posits that A is
caused by B, which means that the presence of
A (cause) will mean the presence of B (effect).
There are two types of causes:
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
7 Argument from Cause
Example:
Sufficient cause/strong cause- Weak cause/necessary cause- The occurrence
the occurrence of the cause of the cause is necessary for the effect to occur.
guarantees the existence of the If virus X is a weak cause for disease X, then
virus X is like an important component of
effect. For instance, if virus X is having disease X. However, the virus alone
a strong cause for disease X, does not lead to having disease X. Perhaps
then having the virus guarantees other factors, for example, a weak immune
developing the diseases. system and certain environmental conditions,
are also needed for disease X to appear.
TYPES OF ARGUMENTS
8 Argument from Sign
This argument uses a sign or indicator X to
argue for the existence of condition Y.
Example:
We may say that we have fever because our body temperature
reads 40 degrees Celsius.
WRITING A
POSITION Emotional
PAPER
Appeals
(The Use of Emot
ional
Triggers to Move
People)
Emotional Appeal
s
We do not only th
ink: we feel as
well. That is why
targeting the
audience’s emotio
ns, when done
right, helps make
our position
paper more believ
able.
False
Authority
Appeal to
common folk
EMOTIONAL
APPEALS
Bandwagon Name Calling
Appeals to common folks
1 Speakers attempt to convince their
audience that they, and their ideas, are
“of the people.”
Example:
When the speaker tells a story about a family
or people that are "just like you" to reinforce
the speaker's point of view.
Bandwagon
2 The basic theme of the band wagon
appeal is that “everyone else is doing
it, and so should you.”
Example:
A friend convinces another friend to go to a
party by saying, “Everyone is going to be
there! You’ll be laughed at if you don’t go,
too!”
Name Calling
3 The name‐calling technique links a
person, or idea, to a negative symbol.
Example:
In a campaign speech to a logging company,
the Congressman referred to his
environmentally conscious opponent as a "tree
hugger."
False Authority
4 It is a fallacious argument that relies on the
statements of a false authority figure, who is
framed as a credible authority on the topic
being discussed.
Example:
An appeal to false authority could involve saying that
we should listen to what an uneducated actor has to
say when it comes to different types of medical
treatments.
THANKS!
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