The process of making valid arguments as we wait to understand the Supreme Court Petitions
In this article, I am not referring to the expected display of fine arguments by brilliant legal minds during the hearing of Supreme Court Petitions, no. I am referring to the battle royale of opinions on other venues and platforms outside of the Supreme Court. This inevitably, in the next couple of days we will be forced to assume all roles from petitioner, respondent, amicus curie, and even the Supreme Court judges. Unfortunately, this will not be the last battle, so we might consider a primer on how to handle opinions.
Even as we shall be following the Supreme Court Petitions, it is important to be aware of our opinions on the matters before the court. An opinion is a judgement or statement that is unproved. All of us have opinions and abilities to generate many more. That explains why we are still discussing the election and election results, and we have added the Supreme Court angles. When we set out to prove our opinions, they become claims. The process of proving a claim is structured and it is referred to as an argument. An argument can be a process and a product.
claim reasons evidence conclusion
(what) (why) (how)
When arguing and disagreeing it should never be about the claim (opinion), but on the reasons and evidence.
Types of claims
Claims fall into three main types:
Claim of fact
It is an assertion that something can be proved with factual evidence. The claim seeks to answer questions such as is it correct or incorrect, valid or invalid, and true or false. The key word is factual evidence. For example, Covid-19 affected voting patterns in Kenya.
Claim of policy
A Claim of policy is prescriptive about what should be done and the conditions that must be met. It asserts that something should or should not be done. Legal documents especially laws are good examples of claims of policy. For example, university students should use reference materials during exams.
Claim of value
A claim of value argues that something is good or bad, or that one thing is better than another thing. This claim assigns qualitative judgments along a good-to-bad continuum relating to persons, events, and things in one’s environment-anything. Many fights and arguments are as a result of this claim. It is a mongrel of a claim that encompasses elements of comparison. An example, Forrest Gump is the greatest movie of all time.
Why do we argue
- Investigate a matter
- Communicate a position on a matter
- Respond to another argument: counter an argument.
- Establish multiple points of view
The following are not arguments:
- descriptions
- undisputed facts
- commands
- emotional expressions
- artistic expressions
- promises
How to Communicate arguments
It is impossible to mention argumentation without the mention of Aristotle. He taught that a speaker’s ability to persuade an audience is based on how well the speaker appeals to that audience in three different areas: logos, ethos, and pathos. We can consider this as how to package, brand and transport the argument The three are also referred to as appeals and form what later rhetoricians have called the rhetorical triangle:
Logos appeals to reason (brain). Logos can also be thought of as the argument and the structure of the argument.
Ethos appeals to the writer’s character. This is the credibility and trustworthiness of the writer or speaker.
Pathos appeals to the emotions (heart) and the sympathetic imagination, as well as to beliefs and values. Pathos can also be thought of as the role of the audience in the argument. This explains the use of humour, and storytelling even in dire matters. A word of caution though, too much pathos is a sign of insufficient evidence or an argument that is veering off into other fields like fiction or advertisement.
Contexts and fields for argumentation offer structure and guidelines. For instance, during the presidential debate, all the aspirants were appraised of the rules. Unfortunately, social media is a mongrel of an environment, thus the many arguments. May your arguments be sound as you enjoy the supreme court petitions.
See also: The loophole in Okiya Omtatah’s Petition against the 2022 presidential election
This article is a contribution of Martin Peter Mburu. He is an author of Christian fiction over at the Martin Mburu website. You can follow him on Twitter @MartinPMburu777.
