The psychology of disputing in our times has become overwhelmed with toxicity, venom, personal offense, and attacks. The book Farnsworth’s Classical English Argument, written by Ward Farnsworth, illustrates a culture of debate that seems to have different psychological foundations. There’s still lots of sharp disagreement, but there’s an underlying commitment to an unspoken ethic or mindset—a background sense that everyone on both sides is part of an enterprise characterized by dignity. Criticism may still sting, but it isn't petty.
Farnsworth’s Classical English Argument is a book about the art of argument. The book divides that general topic into three broad headings, with many chapters within them. The chapters each talk about a strategy or issue that can come up in a debate of any kind. Some of the strategies are analytical; thus the book has many chapters on logic and fallacies (most of which are unfortunately common in modern discourse). Some of the chapters are about more rhetorical matters. For example, there are chapters on the use of insults and magnanimity in argument.
The book illustrates all of its themes with examples of how they’ve been used by great figures in the history of argument: Lincoln, Burke, Churchill, and a range of other figures running from the late 18th century to the first part of the 20th. The examples are highly interesting and amusing if you have a taste for English from the period the book draws from.
This is the same approach taken in Farnsworth's earlier Classical English books. They all look at English that has stood the test of time and ask what we can learn from it. The earlier books were about rhetorical figures, metaphor, and principles of English style. This one is about the substance of give-and-take.
Ward Farnsworth possesses the brilliance and eloquence of Abraham Lincoln. After getting a B.A. from Wesleyan University, he got his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and followed that with successive clerkships—first for the renowned federal appellate judge Richard Posner, and next for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. He is a Professor of Law and served as the Dean of the School of Law from 2012 to 2022 at the University of Texas at Austin. Simply put, he is a remarkable scholar and a beautiful writer, with a fine sensibility and the energy of a workhorse.
He has produced several outstanding scholarly works. His classical English series consists of Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric; Farnsworth’s Classical English Metaphor; Farnsworth’s Classical English Style; and Farnsworth’s Classical English Argument.
I serendipitously stumbled across Farnsworth’s scholarship while pursuing my graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. I had a professor who harshly criticized my English prose and insisted that I visit the disability office on campus to learn the craft and art of writing and argumentation.
Infuriated by his condescending comment, I visited the University of Chicago Press, where I encountered the fine scholarship of Bryan A. Garner. I was reading Garner’s prolific work, and he frequently mentioned John R. Trimble, describing him as a comforting writing mentor. I read Trimble’s magnum opus, Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing, and corresponded with him. Through my correspondence with Trimble, he introduced me to the scholarship of Farnsworth, as both of them are affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin.
The first thing I noticed after delving into Farnsworth's scholarship is that he relishes making useful distinctions. Indeed, making minute distinctions is the hallmark of a good writer. I have learned invaluable lessons from his book—and here, I will enumerate several strategies derived from Farnsworth’s Classical English Argument.
For example, I like the following line so much that I anticipate using it in dialogue: “You cannot frame a question and then frame my answer. You have not lived enough for that.” I intend to use it whenever I am asked a yes-or-no question.
I also appreciate the distinction made around “exceptions prove the rule.” I like this distinction so much that I will quote it at length: “The most famous thing said about exceptions—that the exception proves the rule—is often misunderstood… An exception proves the rule concerning things not expected. In other words, the need for an exception proves the existence of the rule.” The distinction is brilliant. I have been guilty of saying that the exception proves the rule in the sense that Farnsworth rightfully disputes.
There is no shortage of literature on writing, but there is a shortage of good ones. Farnsworth has distinguished himself not just as a prolific writer but also as a good one—a rare combination. Readers interested in matters of English grammar, usage, style, and argument would do well to read—nay, study—the scholarship of Farnsworth.
But writing—especially good writing—involves much editing, revision, and rewriting. Farnsworth emphasizes the importance of reading prose aloud, a method practiced by Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln had an intellectually intelligent friend, a lawyer, who rode the circuit with him in Illinois when he was a young lawyer himself, by the name of Leonard Swett. Lincoln trusted Swett’s mind. Swett was still living in Chicago when Lincoln moved to Washington to become president. Two years later, Lincoln was composing the Emancipation Proclamation, which was to free all the slaves in the southern rebel states.
Lincoln always asked for responses in his own prose whenever he was writing a piece that had to be represented in public, and he always read his prose aloud at every stage of the drafting process. He wrote to Swett in Chicago to ask if his friend would make the days-long train journey to Washington to help him with the proclamation. Swett agreed and showed up at the White House a few days later.
Lincoln read him the proclamation but asked for no response. He watched Swett during the reading. Lincoln finished the reading, thanked Swett for his help, and bid him goodbye. Swett went back to the train station and took the train back to Chicago.
There are very few people alive today who could understand the editorial mindset and practice of Lincoln—and why it worked. I argue that Farnsworth is one of them.
Learn How to Argue from the Masters
18
0
25.04.2024
The psychology of disputing in our times has become overwhelmed with toxicity, venom, personal offense, and attacks. The book Farnsworth’s Classical English Argument, written by Ward Farnsworth, illustrates a culture of debate that seems to have different psychological foundations. There’s still lots of sharp disagreement, but there’s an underlying commitment to an unspoken ethic or mindset—a background sense that everyone on both sides is part of an enterprise characterized by dignity. Criticism may still sting, but it isn't petty.
Farnsworth’s Classical English Argument is a book about the art of argument. The book divides that general topic into three broad headings, with many chapters within them. The chapters each talk about a strategy or issue that can come up in a debate of any kind. Some of the strategies are analytical; thus the book has many chapters on logic and fallacies (most of which are unfortunately common in modern discourse). Some of the chapters are about more rhetorical matters. For example, there are chapters on the use of insults and magnanimity in argument.
The book illustrates all of its themes with examples of how they’ve been used by great figures in the history of argument: Lincoln, Burke, Churchill, and a range of other figures running from the late 18th century to the first part of the 20th. The examples are highly interesting and amusing if you have a taste for English from the period the book draws from.
This is the same approach taken in Farnsworth's earlier Classical English books. They all look at English that has stood the........
© Psychology Today
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
