Toulmin Model Of Argumentation

Stephen Edelston Toulmin is a famous philosopher and ethicist of British in20th century, who is known as the founder of the informal logic. Toulmin’s model of argument has attracted attention widely both at home and abroad.The paper is principally to focus on Toulmin’s model of argument.The first part of the paper analyzes the background and theoretical origin of Toulmin’s model of argument. Toulmin is one of the pioneers of informal logic theory, this part is to sort out the origin and development of Toulmin’s model of argument.The second part is mainly to analyze of Toulmin’s model of argument. Firstly, this part is to clarify the meaning of six constituent elements of Toulmin’s model of argument,then to analyze the overall nature of Toulmin’s model of argument and the academic controversy about "warrant ".The third part is mainly to compare Toulmin’s model of argument and Thomas standard approach,as well as the Wigmore chart method. Thomas standard approach is the main method which is used for analyzing the macro-structure of argumentation;while, Wigmore chart method is specifically used for analyzing the structure of legal argumentation. This part is to reveal the advantages and inadequate of Toulmin’s model of argument through comparison and analyzing in depth.The fourth part is mainly to discuss the theoretical and practical significance of Toulmin’s model of argument.