Narration as Argument (eBook)

Dr. Paula Olmos has been based as a researcher in Philosophy and Classical Studies in several Spanish academic centres (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia) and is now Lecturer at the Department of Linguistics, Logic and Philosophy of Science (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Her research lines include different aspects of the History of Logic, Argumentation and Rhetoric as well as the contemporary Theory of Argumentation, in which she takes a rhetorical stance. She has published papers on these issues in journals like Informal Logic, Theoria, Renaissance Studies, Argumentation or Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, as well as contributions in collective volumes published by Springer, Logos Verlag, ETS (Pisa), Leiden University Press, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Trotta or Southern Illinois University Press, among others. She is the author of a monographic volume on the Spanish sixteen-century philosopher Pedro Simón Abril (CSIC, 2010), editor of the collections of essays Greek Science in the Long Run (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), and co-editor, of the collective volumes Compendio de Lógica, Argumentación y Retórica (Trotta, 2011, 22012, 32016), Imaginarios científicos. Conocimiento, narraciones y utopias (Ediciones Clásicas, 2015), De la demostración a la argumentación. Ensayos en honor de Luis Vega (Publicaciones UAM, 2015).

Contents 6
Contributors 8
About the Authors 9
Chapter 1: Introduction: Narratives, Narrating, Narrators 13
References 19
Part I: Narratives as Sources of Knowledge and Argument 21
Chapter 2: Narratives and the Concept of Argument 22
2.1 Introduction 22
2.2 Narrative Argument: The Debate 23
2.3 Good Reasons 25
2.4 The Concept of Argument 29
2.5 A Dynamic Sense of “Argument” 34
2.6 Narrative Arguments 36
2.7 Conclusion 39
References 40
Chapter 3: Arguing with Stories 42
3.1 Introduction 42
3.2 Arguments from Analogy 44
3.2.1 Story Similarity 45
3.2.2 Drawing Conclusions from Stories 49
3.2.3 Story Points and Legal ratio decidendi 50
3.3 Formal Tools for Modelling Stories 51
3.4 Related Research 53
3.5 Conclusion 54
References 55
Chapter 4: Narrative Fiction as a Source of Knowledge 57
4.1 Literary Cognitivism 57
4.2 Forms of Knowledge and the Value of Questions 60
4.3 Common Ground and Some Varieties of Conversation 62
4.4 A Transcendental Strategy 65
4.5 Compelling Fictions 67
References 70
Chapter 5: Analogy, Supposition, and Transcendentality in Narrative Argument 72
5.1 Introduction 72
5.2 Analogy 75
5.3 Transcendentality 81
5.4 Supposition 86
5.5 Conclusion 88
References 89
Chapter 6: Parables: Crossroads Between the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor and Argumentation Theory 91
6.1 Introduction 91
6.2 Parables and Knowledge 92
6.3 Metaphor and Parables 93
6.4 Open Parables 94
6.5 The Principle of Invariance and Interpretation 100
6.6 Parables and Argumentative Contexts: Causes of (Ir)Relevance 102
6.7 Conclusion 106
References 106
Part II: Argumentative Narratives in Context 108
Chapter 7: Narratives and Pragmatic Arguments: Ivens’ The 400 Million 109
7.1 Introduction 109
7.2 The Structure of Narratives and Pragmatic Arguments 111
7.2.1 Narratives 111
7.2.2 Pragmatic Arguments 113
7.2.3 Mapping 115
7.3 Comparing the Rhetorical Force of Both Formats 116
7.4 The 400 Million 118
7.4.1 The Standpoint Conveyed by The 400 Million 119
7.4.2 The Pragmatic Appeal to Reason in The 400 Million 120
7.4.3 The Rhetorical Meaning of the Plot Structure 122
7.5 Conclusion 123
References 125
Chapter 8: The Sample Convention, or, When Fictionalized Narratives Can Double as Historical Testimony 128
8.1 To Be Read as Testimony, to Be Analyzed as Art 130
8.2 The Setting 132
8.3 Serial Iterativity 135
8.4 The Typical and the Typifying 139
8.5 Narrative Testimony as Implicit Argument 141
References 143
Chapter 9: From Narrative Arguments to Arguments That Narrate 146
9.1 Introduction 146
9.2 Barrès’ Article: French Original Text and English Translation 147
9.3 Narratives and Arguments 150
9.3.1 Two Distinct Textual Types 150
9.3.2 Narrative and Narrating Argument 151
9.3.3 Toward a Narrating Argument 151
9.3.4 “L’Aigle survole le Rossignol”: A Propaganda Article 152
9.3.5 First Narrative: An Account of Oneself 154
9.3.6 Second Narrative: Becoming Eagles 155
9.4 The Semantic Blocks Theory (SBT) 156
9.4.1 General Thesis: Linguistic Meaning Is Argumentative 156
9.4.2 Linguistic Hypotheses 157
9.4.2.1 First Hypothesis: Utterances Can Be Paraphrased by Argumentative Chainings 157
9.4.2.2 Second Hypothesis: Argumentative Chainings Particularise Argumentative Templates 158
9.4.2.3 Third Hypothesis: Words’ Linguistic Meaning Is Built Only on Templates 159
9.4.2.4 Fourth Hypothesis: When Used, Words Can Supply, Transform or Particularise Templates 159
9.4.2.5 SBT in Brief 159
9.4.3 Organization of Contents: Foregrounding and Backgrounding 159
9.4.4 The SBT Applied to “L’Aigle Survole le Rossignol” 160
9.5 Narrating Argument 1: An Account of Oneself 161
9.5.1 “Attributive” and “Modal” Readings 162
9.5.2 Modal Reading of je songe (I Think /I Can See Now): Barrès Provides a Tangible Example of Young People Yearning to Go to the Front 163
9.5.3 Attributive Reading of je songe (I Think/I Can See Now): Barrès Says He Is Having a Prophetic Vision 164
9.5.4 From the Account of Barrès’ Train of Thought to an Autobiographical Narrative 168
9.5.4.1 Aux jeunes gens de ma Profession (the Young of My Profession): Barrès Characterises His Social Group 168
9.5.4.2 Je reçois (I Receive): Barrès Says He Is a Great Writer 168
9.5.4.3 En lisant les Mémoires de Richard Wagner (When Reading Richard Wagner’s Memoirs): The Narrative Expands 170
9.5.5 A Committed Intellectual at the Head of the “Ministry of the Word” 171
9.6 Narrating Argument 2: The Transformation of Young Writers into Eagles 171
9.6.1 Presupposition 172
9.6.1.1 The Linguistic Phenomenon 172
9.6.1.2 Description of the Phenomenon 172
9.6.2 About the Young Writers: The Function of Presupposed Entities on a Sentence Scale 175
9.6.2.1 First Example: ils ne veulent voir que l’honneur et la joie du combat (They Want to See only the Honour and Joy of Combat) 175
9.6.2.2 Second Example: ce sera fini de bêler et de niaiser (Bleating and Dilly-Dallying Will Be over and Gone) 176
9.6.2.3 Presupposed Contents Relating to Young Writers 177
9.6.3 Story of the Young Writers: The Function of Presupposed Entities on a Textual Scale 177
9.6.3.1 An Example of a Secondary Structure 177
9.6.3.2 Barrès’ Article: A Secondary Structure Narrates the Transformation of Young Writers into Eagles 178
9.6.4 A War Narrative 179
9.7 Conclusion 179
References 180
Chapter 10: Narrative as Argument in Atul Gawande’s “On Washing Hands” and “Letting Go” 181
10.1 Narrative as Rhetoric 183
10.2 “On Washing Hands” 184
10.3 “Letting Go” 190
10.4 Conclusion 195
References 196
Chapter 11: On Thought Experiments and Other Narratives in Scientific Argument 197
11.1 Introduction 197
11.2 Thought Experiments in Argumentation Theory 200
11.3 Argument, Explanation and Experiments in Science 205
11.4 Thought Experiments and Other Narrative Ways of Giving Reasons in Science 212
11.5 Conclusion 214
References 215
Chapter 12: How to Win Wars: The Role of the War Narrative 218
12.1 Introduction 218
12.2 Narratives and War Narratives 219
12.3 The Rhetorical Situation 222
12.4 The Socio-Cognitive Domain 223
12.5 The Audience 225
12.6 Counter-Narratives 229
12.7 Temporality 230
12.8 A New Rhetorical Situation 235
12.9 Conclusion 235
References 236