2. Issues

 What essential questions should
we ask to a claim?
(Finding the answers is easy, knowing what
questions to ask is hard!)
 An ISSUE is any question or
disputed item upon which the
final product or conclusion of the
argumentative encounter is
dependent.

3. Characteristics of Issues

 Issues are phrased as Number of
questions, but not all questions issues
qualify as issues. varies
 Issues can be introduced by
either the pro or con side in a
dispute.
 There is no set number of
issues a person can discover.
SPECIFIC Issues Questions
 Issues bring organization to
the argumentative
environment.
Pro/Con have
 Issues should be as specific as
the right to
one can make them. question

4. Types of Issues

 Potential Issues: All of the possible questions that can be
asked of the claim
 Admitted Issues: Questions raised by one side and agreed
to by the other side.
 Real Issues: Important questions that remain after
narrowing the potential issues down.
 Ultimate Issues: Key questions that should be sufficient
for the disposition of the claim.

5. Example

Claim: Abortion should be legalized in any country.
Issues:
1. Should every mother be given the right to choose to abort their own
child?
2. Can religion impose restrictions to abortion?
3. Should every family be given a limit to how many children they can
have depending on their financial status?
Ultimate Issue:
(Pro Side) Is it acceptable to raise a child in a life of poverty and
medical disability?
(Con Side) Does a government of a country has the right to choose
which unborn child’s life to save or kill?

6. Analysis

 ANALYSIS is the systematic approach to problem solving
and decision making.
 Four Patterns of Analysis
• Cost/ Benefit Analysis: weighing the total expected costs vs. the total
expected benefits of one or more actions in order to choose the most
profitable option.
• Priorities Analysis: We live in a world of scarce resources!
• Programs Analysis: Current policies are evaluated against the goals
that have or have not been reached.
• Continuities Analysis: We usually try to make our decisions
consistent with tradition.

7. Example

 Claim: Abortion should be legalized in any country.
 Cost/Benefit Analysis:
• Costs: loss of faith, loss of spirituality, increase in
poverty, financial loss
• Benefits: budget increase, controlled population,
decrease in medical liabilities
 Programs Analysis: Assuming the objective is to
alleviate poverty, then the proposed program could
meet the goal.

8. Issues Becomes Contentions

Becomes

9. Contentions

 Contentions are the main  Contentions should flow from one
arguments that support your to the next, advancing the overall
case for your side.
position on the claim.
 Contentions should reflect a logical
 Contentions mostly come organization of the arguments you
from the ultimate issues. are making in support of your
position on the claim.
 Contentions become the  Contentions are the foundation of
justifications for your position all argumentative presentations.
on the claim being argued.
 Contentions organize and logically
structure an advocate’s ideas as to
why a target audience should
accept their point of view.

10. Example

 Claim: Abortion should be legalized in any country.
 Ultimate Issue: Is poverty a determinant to which an
unborn child should live or not?
 Contention: Poverty is a determinant to which an
unborn child could not survive.

11. “The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it
thinks, but in how it thinks.”
–Christopher Hitchens, Letters to a Young Contrarian