Class 1 - Introduction

Welcome on board

Welcome to our first class in this course on the arts of argument! In this first session, we’re getting to know each other, and also talking about what argument is, and why it matters. We spend a lot of time and effort making and evaluating arguments. This is not just something that happens at university, but something that happens in daily life. Think about arguing over the price of something, or trying to persuade your sibling that they should go and bring you a cup of tea, or trying to convince somebody to vote for you, or explaining why you shouldn’t have your grades reduced for being late to class. All this involves argument!

Different faculty members will teach this course differently. Some, for example, will treat argumentation as a set of technical skills that you need for your university life. But my approach is going to be to think about the social function of argumentation. Why do we argue? For what purpose? How do we reach agreement?

We will learn some technical skills as we go along. But this won’t just be about argumentation techniques. We’ll also be thinking — and arguing — about the role of argumentation in human life.

Incidentally, I’m Will Buckingham, and I’m leading the course this semester. If you want to find out more about me, you can have a look at my website.

How this class will work:

But before we talk about this, let’s talk about how the course will work. These notes may be useful to refer back to.

Canvas

I’m trying to keep Canvas simple. So there are a few things you need to pay attention to.

• The discussion board will be used for participation tasks. I’ll talk about those below.
• Readings will be on the files tab.
• There is a syllabus provided on Canvas in handy reference format under the “syllabus” tab. But the content here may differ from the in-class content. So please don’t rely on this.
• Assignments will be uploaded to Canvas and graded through the Canvas SpeedGrader.
• Please don’t message me through Canvas. I don’t always get these messages. Use email instead.
• Please turn on Canvas notifications so that you receive announcements when I send them.

Course support website

This website (https://courses.willbuckingham.com) is a set of ongoing class notes, which will be useful for your reference — and will also be handy if you miss a session. I will not be duplicating this content on Canvas, so keep your eye on this website.

Grading

Here’s some information on grading, and how this will affect how the class works.

Attendance: 10%

Remember that Parami requires 90% attendance.

For the sake of attendance, I’ll also be asking you to turn on your cameras at the beginning of every class. This is so we can see each other’s faces, and check in with each other. Being able to see each other fosters community, and community is vital for learning. If you do not have your camera on for the roll-call, I will mark you absent. Once you have been marked present, you may need to turn it off to save battery from time to time. But camera use is mandatory where possible.

If you are late, you will be marked late!

If you can’t attend, let me know in advance, unless it’s an emergency. This is not just about the work, but also a welfare issue. We want to know that you are safe and well — and if there are any problems, we want to be able to help you.

If you do have to miss a session, there is a simple procedure for make-up tasks, which you can access from the “Posts” tab on the courses website (this site).

Participation: 10%

It is hard to grade participation. My simple approach is to set tasks most weeks on the discussion board. These will be linked to the readings, and marked as 1 (for completed) or 0 (for not completed). You must complete these the day before the class (not on the morning of your class). You cannot complete them later: if you do, I will simply mark you with a zero.

Also, to help deepen our engagement with each other, I want you to set up your Zoom as follows:

1. Use your Parami registered name first, then in brackets your preferred name and any pronouns you prefer.
2. Use a photo of you, so we can see your face.

This is compulsory. If you don’t do this, you will lose 2% of your overall mark.

Why is this? It’s really important we have a real, live sense of each other, despite internet problems. Seeing each other’s faces, remembering that we are real people with real names, is a way of keeping our communication grounded. It gives us a stronger sense of community. These are difficult times in Myanmar, but we need to have a sense of each other as real human beings, with real names. We may not always be able to use our cameras, but we can always do this, as a minimum.

If there are specific, legitimate reasons you can’t do this (for example, religious reasons), you must email me to let me know: will.buckingham@parami.edu.mm.

Assignments: 25% + 30%

There are two written assignments. We’ll talk more about those later:

• The mid-term is worth 25%.
• The final assignment is worth 30%.

Presentations: 15%

Presentations are stressful, particularly when the internet is so bad. So your presentations for this course will be poster presentations. You will need to visually present an argument, idea, or body of research. You will not be required to verbally present anything.

Quizzes: 10%

There will be two quizzes at 5% each. These will be done in groups, but graded individually.

Office Hours

I do not have fixed office hours, as they are hard to timetable, so fixed schedules never work for everyone. But I’m always available to talk to you about anything. To book office hours, email me on will.buckingham@parami.edu.mm!

Keeping in touch

Either email or Workplace is fine. Please (again) don’t message me on Canvas.

Breaks

Our sessions are 1 hour and 40 minutes. This is long! And sitting still isn’t good for us all. So I am going to have dance breaks halfway through. For each class, I’ll select some music, and you can either have a good dance (with your camera off or on, it’s up to you), or get up and move around, or if you don’t like the music, you can just do something else, like a few minutes of yoga!

Let’s keep moving and keep happy!

Introductions

We’re going to start with introductions in small groups, asking each other these questions:

• What is your registered name for this course?
• What name do you like to go by?
• What pronouns do you prefer?
• Where do you live?
• What is your favourite breakfast?
• Why did you sign up for this course?
• What book / film / song / artwork do you love most?

About Argument

Now let’s start thinking about argument. I want you to think about the role of argument in everyday life. Look at the following scenarios:

1. You are trying to persuade your parents or guardians that they should let you do something, but they don’t want to let you. How do you try to persuade them?
2. You are arguing something with somebody, and you know you are right and they are wrong. But they nevertheless win the argument. How do you feel?
3. You are making an argument, but halfway through you start to wonder if your argument is making sense. But you keep on arguing anyway. Why?
4. When has an argument about something important changed your mind? What changed, and what was the argument?

Choose one of these, and write for 10 minutes about this experience. Then Next, I’ll put you into breakout groups according to the topic you chose to share this experience.

What is argument for?

1. Does argument necessarily lead to truth?
2. If so, how? If not, why not?
3. Why does argument matter?
4. Can we get better at arguing, and should we try?

Homework for the next session

One person who was particularly engaged with the question of argumentation was the ancient philosopher Socrates. For the next session, I want you to do the following:

1. Read the extract to the end of page 5 at least once.
2. Read the first page of the dialogue OUT LOUD.
3. Make notes on the following questions, and paste them on the discussion board:

• Who is Socrates?
• Who is Euthyphro?
• What are they arguing about?
• Why do you think this matters?
• Which of the arguments they make are most interesting to you.

What we’re interested in is getting a sense not just of what the argument is about here, but how Socrates and Euthyphro argue.

Good luck!