Scare Tactics: Arguments that Appeal to Fear and Threats (Argumentation Library) [Hardcover]

Douglas Walton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0792365437 | ISBN-13: 978-0792365433 | Edition: 1

Scare Tactics, the first book on the subject, provides a theory of the structure of reasoning used in fear and threat appeal argumentation. Such arguments come under the heading of the argumentum ad baculum, the `argument to the stick/club', traditionally treated as a fallacy in the logic textbooks. The new dialectical theory is based on case studies of many interesting examples of the use of these arguments in advertising, public relations, politics, international negotiations, and everyday argumentation on all kinds of subjects. Many of these arguments are amusing, once you see the clever tactic used; others are scary. Some of the arguments appear to be quite reasonable, while others are highly suspicious, or even outrageously fraudulent. In addition to the examples taken from logic textbooks, other cases treated come from a variety of sources, including political debates, legal arguments, and arguments from media sources, like magazine articles and television ads. The purpose of this book is to explain how such arguments work as devices of persuasion, and to develop a method for analyzing and evaluating their reasonable and fallacious uses in particular cases. The book shows how such arguments share a common structure, revealing several distinctive forms of argument nested within each other. Based on its account of this cognitive structure, the new dialectical theory presents methods for identifying, analyzing, and evaluating these arguments, as they are used in specific cases. The book is a scholarly contribution to argumentation theory. It is written in an accessible style, and uses many colorful and provocative examples of fear and threat appeal arguments that are suitable for classroom discussions. The matters treated will be of interest to professionals and students in law, critical thinking, advertising, speech communication, informal logic, cognitive science, rhetoric, and media studies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (September 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792365437
• ISBN-13: 978-0792365433
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,790,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Near-brilliant book, November 18, 2004

By 

nom-de-nick "nom-de-nick" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scare Tactics: Arguments that Appeal to Fear and Threats (Argumentation Library) (Hardcover)

That can't fairly be encapsulated in an on-line review. Unfortunately, with an absurd price tag like this, not too many people are going to read it, and I agree with them. This price is greed at its worst. Try the library or borrow a copy, as I did.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Greed at its Apex, April 3, 2008

By 

Judith Crichfield (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scare Tactics: Arguments that Appeal to Fear and Threats (Argumentation Library) (Kindle Edition)

for the price of this book, one gets brief glimpses intto few of a great number of fallacies. Aalthough the colorfull story of the book is briliant, the lesson(s) could be gleamed from maaany other books, particulary of the subjectts of philosophy, arguments, and logic. After finding this book att the library, i wanted to own it; after seeing the price, I see it as my duty as a reader and sttudent of philosophy to urge you away from the pit of money this book demands for the small parcell of knowledge this book returns. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY