David Zarefsky

Rhetorical Perspectives
on Argumentation
Selected Essays by David Zarefsky
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

p. 75

7.3 The Nature of Argument Fields

A second persistent question is (2) For any given argument, what determines the
fi eld it is in? If one holds, as Toulmin seemed to in Uses ( 1958 ), that fi elds are
groups of arguments in which data and conclusions are of the same logical type, it
would follow that formal differences would distinguish among fi elds. Few contemporary
writers take this strict position, probably because it assumes a degree of
formalism which is not appropriate to practical reasoning. 1 Willard ( 1981b ) makes
a cogent case against the equation of fi elds with logical types.

A particular version of this approach which has received widespread attention is

the equation of fi elds with academic disciplines. Toulmin ( 1972 ) distinguishes among
compact disciplines, diffuse disciplines, would-be disciplines, the undisciplined,
and the undisciplinable. Toulmin et al. ( 1979 ) identify law, science, management,
ethics, and the arts as examples of fi elds