The Toulmin Method

         The Toulmin Method is an interesting overview of how to have a more impactful argument about a specific topic or idea. Its broken down into the following bite sized chunks, claim, data, warrant, backing, qualifier, and rebuttal. The claim is your main idea, it is essentially the point you want to get across. The data, is the credible support you've found for your claim. The warrant works with the data, to explain how the data supports the claim. The backing is the support for the warrant. The rebuttal is the speaker addressing any counterarguments. Finally, the qualifier is used throughout the argument, it essentially states that there are rare exceptions in what you are arguing. For example, if my argument was "Winter is the Best Season" my claim would be that "Winter often provides a colder and more enjoyable environment then other seasons". The data would be "There are no mosquitos in the winter and most people report sleeping better during the winter". The Warrant would be "Not being bitten by mosquitos and sleeping more are typically better for us humans". The backing would state "Mosquito bites are annoying and we all need sleep, in fact most of us need to sleep more than we do now". My rebuttal would state "Not everyone enjoys the cold, and we cant grow as much food during the winter, but despite that I still believe that winter is the best season". Finally, my qualifiers are laid throughout this example, with words like "Typically", "Often", and "Most", these are all words that imply that what I am stating is not a factual truth, but rather an opinion based argument.

(Pictured is a map of how the Toulmin Method is laid out, more about the Toulmin Method can be read here, on the website of the Purdue Owls https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/historical_perspectives_on_argumentation/toulmin_argument.html)

        Overall, we can see that the Toulmin Method is a strong way to format your argument, but what about its use in online communication? Well, if we look closely, I think we can see that the Toulmin Method is essentially the exact method we use to format our argumentative essays. This is due to the fact that the Toulmin Method is the best way to format an argument online or not. To show this, we can look at the different discussions we've had in this class. For example, "How Useful is AI" is a great argument to use the Toulmin Method, as you're either for or against AI, most people already have an opinion on the subject, and there is plenty of research done to either side of the argument. So, what would be a bad argument to use the Toulmin Method? I would say that the Toulmin Method is best served when you have a clear argument with two sides, once you get an argument where you have three to six sides, you need to adjust the method in order to properly convey your message. For example, if we were arguing about the best author, we likely wouldn't be able to use the aforementioned map of the Toulmin Method, but we could restructure both the argument and the method to make it work. For example, instead of arguing that "Rudyard Kipling is the Best Author" we would be better served to argue "Rudyard Kipling is the Most Notable Classical Author". Then we would likely need to structure our Toulmin Method to include rebuttals for almost all other notable authors, and we would need to severely increase our claims and data in order to properly spell out our argument. 

        We also need to consider the Toulmin Method when implemented into online communities, this is where we would find echo chambers and places where we're more likely to be influenced by emotions. Obviously if we are arguing that "Rudyard Kipling is the Best Author" in the "We Hate Rudyard Kipling" Facebook page, our point might be moot regardless. Though it's also not great to make the argument "I hate Rudyard Kipling" in the "We Hate Rudyard Kipling" Facebook page, as you're now only getting an echo of "You're exactly correct". Along with this, more people are more likely to argue against you when you go against their emotions directly, but this is true in person and online. 

        Overall, we can see that the Toulmin Method is the best method to start your arguments, but anything beyond a basic interpersonal argument might need an expansion. We saw this when we considered arguments with multiple arguments for or against it. Overall, you can't be misguided by using the Toulmin Model, as it forces you to provide evidence for your arguments in the most efficient way possible.