20. Definition through the History of the Case.In some cases the easiest way to put before your readers the precise details or limitations implied in a term is through a brief review of the history of the question. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates Lincoln was constantly showing that Douglas's use of the term "popular sovereignty" must be understood in the light of the whole history of the slavery question; that it meant one thing—what Douglas intended it to mean—if the history of the question before 1850 were left out of sight; but that it meant a wholly different thing if the steady encroachment of the slave power from the Missouri Compromise of 1820 on were taken into account. And Lincoln showed that in reality "popular sovereignty" had come to mean a power oh the part of the people of a territory to introduce slavery, but not to exclude it.12In our own day "progressive" has a different meaning when applied to a Republican from Kansas and to one from Massachusetts or New York. To know just what is involved by applying the term to any given public man, one must go back to the recent history of his party in his own state, and to the speeches he has made. In political discussions popular phrases are constantly thus blurred in meaning through being used as party catchwords; and to use them with any certainty in an argument one must thus go back to their origin, and then dissect out, as it were, the ambiguous implications which have grown into them.
If you were arguing any question concerning the elective system or the entrance requirements for your own college, you would often do well to sketch the history of the present system as a means of defining it, before you go on to urge that it be changed or kept as it is. So if you were arguing for a further change in the football rules, your best definition of the present game for your purpose would be a sketch of the way in which the game has been changed in the past few years, at the urgent demand of public opinion. Such a sketch you could easily get by running through the back numbers of such a magazine asOuting, or the sporting columns of some of the larger weeklies. Or again, if you were arguing that the street railway systems of your city should be allowed to combine, your best description or definition of the present situation might well be a sketch of the successive steps by which it came to be what it is. Here you would go for your material to the files of local newspapers, or, if you could get at them, to sets of the reports of the railway companies.
The definition of terms through the history of the question has the advantage that, besides helping your readers to see why the terms you use have the meaning you give them for the present case, it also makes them better judges of the question by giving them a full background.
Ambiguous definitions, which do not distinguish between two or more meanings of a term for the case under discussion, are usually avoided by going back to the history of the case. In Chapter III we shall consider more fully the fallacies which spring from ambiguous use of words. Here I shall insist briefly on the necessity of searching into the way terms have come to be used in specific discussions.
The first of these is the danger which arises when a word in general use takes on a special, almost technical meaning in connection with a particular subject. Here you must take some pains to see that your readers understand it in the special sense, and not in the popular one. A crass instance, in which there is little real possibility of confusion, is the use of words like "democratic" or "republican" as the names of political parties; even with these words stump speakers sometimes try to play on the feelings of an uneducated audience by importing the association of the original use of the word into its later use. There are a good many words used in the scientific study of government which are also used loosely in general talk. "Federal" has a precise meaning when used to distinguish the form of government of the United States from that which usually binds together the counties in a state; but we constantly use it in a sense hardly distinguishable from that of "National." The following extract from an editorial on the Philippine question is a good illustration of this precise and semitechnical use of words, and the loose, not very accurate use of everyday speech:
On the other hand, it is said that this policy of the United States toward its dependencies is insincere; that it is a covert plan of exploitation; that, as it is practiced, it is a denial in act of a mere promise to the ear; and that if it were genuine the United States would bestow self-government upon its dependencies by granting independence.
This criticism is obviously based on a confusion of independence with self-government. Russia, is independent, but in only a very slight degree are its people self-governing. Turkey has long been independent, but until the recent revolution the people of Turkey were self-governing in no sense at all. On the other hand, Canada, though not independent, is self-governing.13
Many an argument goes to wreck through carelessness in the use of words of this sort. Wherever the subject under discussion has grown into the partial possession of a special field, but still uses words drawn from everyday life, you must be careful that not only you, but your audience also, understand your terms in the more precise way.
Closely related to this kind of ambiguity, and in practice still more insidious, is the ambiguity which arises from the connotation or emotional implications of words. The use of "republican" and "democrat" cited above runs over into this kind of confusion. In collegiate athletics "professional" has come to have almost an implication of moral inferiority, when it is often dependent on pretty technical considerations of expediency. In politics, to one class of temperaments "conservative," to another "radical," or at any rate "liberal" or "progressive," carries the implication of the salvation or the ruin of the country. All such words introduce a sure element of obscurity and confusion into an argument. If a word stirs your feelings in one way and those of some of your readers in another, you cannot use that word safely; in spite of the most careful definitions and disclaimers the emotional bias will creep in and twist the effect of your words in the minds of some of your audience. This emotional ambiguity is the most insidious of all ambiguities in the use of words. The danger from it is so real that I shall return to it at greater length (see p. 158).
In a good many cases the necessity of defining the terms to be used, whether in the proposition itself, or in the argument, changes with the audience. If you begin a movement to introduce a commission form of government into the town or the city in which you live, at first you will have to repeat the definition of commission government a good many times, in order that most of the voters may know exactly what you want them to do. If the town once wakes up, however, and gets interested, you and every one else will be using such technicalities as "Galveston plan," "Des Moines plan," "recall," "initiative," and the like with no danger of leaving darkness where there should be light.
So even more obviously with school and college questions: if you are sending memorials urging the introduction of the honor system or of student self-government, one to the trustees of your college, and another to the faculty, and at the same time addressing an appeal to your fellow students through a college paper, in each of the three cases your definitions might differ. You could probably assume that both students and faculty would be more or less familiar with the question, so that your definitions would be of the nature of precise specifications of the plan you were urging. With the trustees your definitions would probably have to be longer and your explanations more detailed, for such a body would start with only a vague knowledge of the situation.
As in all other steps in making an argument, so in defining, there is no formula for all cases. In each case your knowledge of your audience must guide you, and your own sagacity. Unnecessary definitions will make them think you a prig; insufficient definition will let them stray away from your meaning.
Notebook.Enter any terms which need definition for the audience you are addressing.
Illustration. Commission form of government after the Des Mouses plan. The essential features of this plan are as follows: The entire affairs of the city are conducted by a mayor and four councilors, elected at large for two years; they are nominated at a primary election; at neither primary nor final election are party designations allowed on the ballot; these officers are subject to the recall; the mayor is chairman of the council, but has no power of veto; the executive and administrative powers are divided into five departments, each under the charge of a member of the council—(1) public affairs (under the charge of the mayor), (2) accounts and finances, (3)public safety,(4) streets and public improvements, (5) parks and public property; all other offices are filled and their duties prescribed by majority vote of the council; recall; grants of franchises must be approved by popular vote; initiative and referendum; a summary of city affairs must be published and distributed once a month.
Recall, On petition of twenty-five per cent of the voters at the last election the mayor or any of the councilmen must stand for reelection at a special election.
Referendum. On petition of twenty-five per cent of the voters any ordinance must be submitted to popular vote at a special election; no ordinance goes into effect until ten days after being passed by the council.
Initiative. On petition of twenty-five per cent of the voters a proposed measure must either be passed by the council or else submitted to popular vote.
FINDING THE ISSUES
FINDING THE ISSUES
EXERCISES
1. Write definitions of the system for choice of studies by undergraduates which is in force at your college; of the terms for admission to college; of the requirements for the degree.
2. Write a compact description or definition of the form of city government in your own city or town, like that of the Des Moines plan of commission government on page 70.
3. Write a definition of the requirements for entrance in English, according to those set forth by the Conference on Uniform Entrance Requirements in English.
4. Write a definition of the present system of college societies in your own college, using the history of their development, for your fellow students; for an article in a popular magazine.
5. Write a definition of "summer baseball" for an audience of undergraduates; for the trustees of your college.
6. Write a definition of "professional coach."
7. Write a definition of "squatter sovereignty," as used by Lincoln.
8. Write a definition of "the mutation theory."
9. Write a definition of "the English system of government."
10. Write a definition of "the romantic spirit in literature."
21. Finding the Issues.Your preparation for your argument should now have given you a clear idea of the interests and prepossessions of your readers, it should have left you with a definite proposition to support or oppose, and it should have made you sure of the meaning of all the terms you are to use, whether in the proposition or in your argument. The next step in working out the introduction to your brief is to note down the chief points that can be urged on the two sides of the question, as direct preparation for the final step, which will be to find the main issues. These main issues are the points on which the decision of the whole question will turn. They will vary in number with the case, and to some extent with the space which you have for your argument. In a question of fact, which turns on circumstantial evidence, there may be a number of them. In the White Murder Case, in which as we have already seen, Webster was the chief counsel for the prosecution, he summed up the main issues in the following passage. The essential facts needed to understand the case are that the defendant was Franklin Knapp, that his sister-in-law, Mrs. Joseph Knapp, was the niece of Captain White, that by removing and destroying the will of Captain White the defendant and his brother Joseph supposed that they had made sure that she would inherit from him a large sum of money, that Richard Crowninshield, the actual perpetrator of the murder, had killed himself in prison. To convince the jury of the guilt of the prisoner, Webster had to carry them with him on the following seven main issues:
Gentlemen, I have gone through with the evidence in this case, and have endeavored to state it plainly and fairly before you. I think there are conclusions to be drawn from it, the accuracy of which you cannot doubt.I think you cannot doubt that there was a conspiracy formed fur the purpose of committing this murder, and who the conspirators were:That you cannot doubt that the Crowninshields and the Knapps were the parties in this conspiracy:That you cannot doubt that the prisoner at the bar knew that the murder was to be done on the night of the 6th of April:That you cannot doubt that the murderers of Captain White were the suspicious persons seen in and about Brown Street on that night:That you cannot doubt that Richard Crowninshield was the perpetrator of that crime:That you cannot doubt that the prisoner at the bar was in Brown Street on that night.If there, then it must be by agreement, to countenance, to aid the perpetrator. And if so, then he is guilty as "Principal."
Gentlemen, I have gone through with the evidence in this case, and have endeavored to state it plainly and fairly before you. I think there are conclusions to be drawn from it, the accuracy of which you cannot doubt.
I think you cannot doubt that there was a conspiracy formed fur the purpose of committing this murder, and who the conspirators were:
That you cannot doubt that the Crowninshields and the Knapps were the parties in this conspiracy:
That you cannot doubt that the prisoner at the bar knew that the murder was to be done on the night of the 6th of April:
That you cannot doubt that the murderers of Captain White were the suspicious persons seen in and about Brown Street on that night:
That you cannot doubt that Richard Crowninshield was the perpetrator of that crime:
That you cannot doubt that the prisoner at the bar was in Brown Street on that night.
If there, then it must be by agreement, to countenance, to aid the perpetrator. And if so, then he is guilty as "Principal."
Similarly, in most arguments of policy there are a number of considerations that converge in favor of or against the proposed policy. If you were writing an argument in favor of keeping the study of Latin in the commercial course of a high school, you would probably urge that Latin is essential for an effective knowledge of English, that it is the foundation of Spanish and French, languages which will be of constantly increasing importance to American business men in the future, and that young men and women who go into business have an even stronger right to studies which will enlarge their horizons and open their minds to purely cultivating influences than those who go on to college. Indeed, in very few questions of policy which are doubtful enough to need argument is there any single consideration on which the whole case will turn. Human affairs are much complicated by cross interests, and many influences modify even one's everyday decisions.
To find the main issues—which are really the critical ones on which your audience will make up their minds—is a matter largely of native sagacity and penetration; but thorough knowledge of your whole subject is essential if you are to strike unerringly to the heart of the subject and pick out these pivotal points.
A simple and very practical device for getting at the main issues is to put down on paper the chief points which might be made on the two sides. Then with these before you, you can soon, by stating them and rearranging them, simmer down your case into arguable form.
In the argument on introducing a commission form of government into Wytown this noting down of the chief points which might be urged on the two sides would be about as follows:
Contentions on the Two Sides.On the affirmative the following points might be urged:
1. The plan would make the individuals who hold the power directly responsible at all times to the citizens.2. It would make the responsibility for all municipal action easy to trace.3. It would get abler men to serve the city.4. It would take municipal government out of politics.5. It would hold municipal administration up to the same standards of honesty and efficiency as private business.6. It would make it difficult to elect representatives of corrupt interests.7. It would make possible advantageous dealings with public-service corporations.8. It would make possible the immediate removal of an unfaithful official.9. It would tend to interest the citizens intelligently in municipal affairs.10. It has worked well wherever it has been tried.
1. The plan would make the individuals who hold the power directly responsible at all times to the citizens.
2. It would make the responsibility for all municipal action easy to trace.
3. It would get abler men to serve the city.
4. It would take municipal government out of politics.
5. It would hold municipal administration up to the same standards of honesty and efficiency as private business.
6. It would make it difficult to elect representatives of corrupt interests.
7. It would make possible advantageous dealings with public-service corporations.
8. It would make possible the immediate removal of an unfaithful official.
9. It would tend to interest the citizens intelligently in municipal affairs.
10. It has worked well wherever it has been tried.
On the negative side the following points might be urged:
1. The plan is a complete departure from the traditional American theory of government.2. It throws away a chance for training in public affairs for a considerable body of young men.3. It might put very great power in the hands of unworthy men.4. Corrupt interests, having a larger stake, would work harder to control the city.5. Past experience gives no reason to expect the constant interest on the part of citizens which is necessary to make so great concentration of power safe.6. With further increase in the foreign population of the city there will be danger from race and religious clannishness.7. A return to the old-fashioned town government, or some such modification of it as has been tried at Newport, would enlist the active interest of more citizens.8. The system is still an experiment.9. The present success of the plan in various places is largely to be ascribed to its novelty.10. The present system has in the past given good government.11. The liability to recall will keep public officials from initiating advantageous policies if they would be detrimental to part of the city, or if they were unpopular because of novelty.
1. The plan is a complete departure from the traditional American theory of government.
2. It throws away a chance for training in public affairs for a considerable body of young men.
3. It might put very great power in the hands of unworthy men.
4. Corrupt interests, having a larger stake, would work harder to control the city.
5. Past experience gives no reason to expect the constant interest on the part of citizens which is necessary to make so great concentration of power safe.
6. With further increase in the foreign population of the city there will be danger from race and religious clannishness.
7. A return to the old-fashioned town government, or some such modification of it as has been tried at Newport, would enlist the active interest of more citizens.
8. The system is still an experiment.
9. The present success of the plan in various places is largely to be ascribed to its novelty.
10. The present system has in the past given good government.
11. The liability to recall will keep public officials from initiating advantageous policies if they would be detrimental to part of the city, or if they were unpopular because of novelty.
In most cases, as here, you will get too many points to argue out in the space which is at your disposal. Fifteen hundred or two thousand words are very soon eaten up when you begin to state evidence in any detail, and arguments written in school or college can rarely be longer. You must look forward, therefore, to not more than four or five main issues. In going over and comparing the points which you have jotted down in this preliminary statement you must consequently be prepared to throw out all that are not obviously important. Even when you have done this you will usually have more than enough points left to fill your space, and must make some close decisions before you get at those which you finally decide to argue out.
You must also be prepared to rephrase and remold some of the points in order to get at the most important aspects of the case. This noting down of the points which might be urged you should therefore regard entirely as a preliminary step, and not as fixing the points in the form in which you will argue them out.
In the main issues for the argument on introducing commission government into Wytown, as they are worked out below, it will be seen that main issue 4 for the affirmative is derived in part from the points marked 1, 2, 6, and 8 of those for the affirmative, and those marked 3, 4, and 5 for the negative.
Furthermore, it is obvious that the main issues you choose will vary somewhat with the side of the question which you are arguing. You will almost surely have to leave out some of the points which might be urged, and there is no sense in letting the other side choose your ground for you. Points which from one side may be of no great consequence, or not very practicable to argue, may on the other be highly effective; and in arguing you should always take what advantage can fairly be gained from position.
The phrasing of the main issues, too, will vary with the side on which you are arguing them. Here, again, you must take every fair advantage that is to be gained from position. In the main issues of the question I have been using for an example, as they are stated below, it will be seen that main issue 1 on the affirmative and main issue 3 on the negative cover very nearly the same ground; but if you were arguing on the affirmative you would direct attention to the shortcomings inherent in the system of government, if on the negative, to the temporary and removable causes of them. Whichever side you were arguing on there is no reason that you should lose the advantage of so phrasing the issue that you can go directly to your work of establishing your contention.
In the argument on introducing commission government into Wytown the main issues might be as follows:
The main issues as chosen by the affirmative:
1. Is the admitted inefficiency of the city government at present due to the system of government?2. Will the adoption of the plan result in more economical administration?3. Will the adoption of the plan result in more efficient service to the city?4. Will the direct responsibility of the mayor and councilors to the citizens be a sufficient safeguard for the increased power given to them?
1. Is the admitted inefficiency of the city government at present due to the system of government?
2. Will the adoption of the plan result in more economical administration?
3. Will the adoption of the plan result in more efficient service to the city?
4. Will the direct responsibility of the mayor and councilors to the citizens be a sufficient safeguard for the increased power given to them?
The main issues as chosen by the negative:
1. Is there danger in putting such large powers into the hands of so few men?2. Will the new plan, if adopted, permanently raise the standard of public servants?3. Is the inefficiency of the city government at present due to temporary and removable causes?4. Has the plan succeeded in other places largely because of its novelty?5. Will the liability to recall keep officials from initiating new policies for fear of unpopularity?
1. Is there danger in putting such large powers into the hands of so few men?
2. Will the new plan, if adopted, permanently raise the standard of public servants?
3. Is the inefficiency of the city government at present due to temporary and removable causes?
4. Has the plan succeeded in other places largely because of its novelty?
5. Will the liability to recall keep officials from initiating new policies for fear of unpopularity?
In some cases it will be hard to reduce the number of issues to a manageable number; in others, for special reasons, it may be possible to treat a part of them only at length. In such cases one can always adopt the device of an imaginary "next chapter" or "to be continued in our next." In considering how many issues you can deal with satisfactorily, however, you must not leave out of account contentions on the other side that must be refuted; and in choosing among the possible main issues you must always exercise judgment. Many points which might be argued are not worth the space it would take to deal with them; but not infrequently you will have to let points that have some weight give place to others that have more.
It is not to be expected that the points made by the two sides will always exactly pair off, for the considerations which make for a course of action may be different in kind from those which make against it. Sometimes one side will contribute more to the final number of main issues, sometimes the other. Ordinarily your own side will give you the larger number of points that you think worth arguing out, for an affirmative and constructive argument usually makes more impression than a negative one.
Notebook.Enter the chief points which might be made on the two sides of your question. Then, after studying them and comparing them, enter the main issues which you decide to argue out.
(The contentions on the two sides and the main issues for the model argument will be found on pages 74-77.)
EXERCISE
Take one of the questions on pages 10-12, with which you have some acquaintance, and obtain the main issues by noting down first the points which might be urged on the two sides.
NOTE. This exercise is a good one for class work. Let the class suggest the points, and write them, as they come, on the blackboard. Then call for criticism and discussion of them, in order to come to the main issues.
22. The Agreed Statement of Facts.Now that you have compared the points on which the two sides disagree, you can pick out the points on which they agree, and decide which of the latter will enter into the discussion. You are therefore in a position to draw up the agreed statement of facts, in which you will sum up compactly so much of the history of the case, of the origin of the present question, and other relevant facts and necessary definitions, as will be needed to understand the brief. The style of this statement should be strictly expository, and there should be nothing in it to which both sides could not agree. It should be similar to the statements of facts in courts of law, which are sent up with the briefs when a case is appealed on a point of legal principle.
Since this agreed statement of facts is not argument, it will make small use of such conjunctions as "because," "for," "hence," and "therefore." If you find any of them in your agreed statement, it is better to rearrange it, so that you will not seem to be giving reasons before you have begun your argument.
In the making of this preliminary statement and to a certain extent in the framing of the main issues, it is convenient and advisable, wherever both sides of the question are to be presented in arguments, whether in writing or in debate, for the two parties to work together. In this working together they should aim to agree on as many points as possible. If they meet in a carping and unyielding temper, the result will be in the end that the patience of the audience will be tried and its attention dispersed by lengthy arguments on preliminary details. In making an argument one should never forget, even in school and college work, that the aim of all argument is to produce agreement. Few people have much interest in a contest in smartness; and it is a bad habit to care too much about the mere beating of an opponent on a question where there are real and serious issues. Any question which is worth arguing at all will have far more ground to cover, even when everything possible has been granted by both sides, than the average student can cover with any thoroughness.
Notebook.Enter those of the essential facts and definitions in the case which would be agreed to by both sides, and which are needed for an understanding of the brief.
Illustration.Agreed Statement of Facts.For many years the tax rate in Wytown has been high, and in the last ten years has not fallen below twenty-four dollars on one thousand dollars. The city water supply is of doubtful purity, and nothing has been done to improve it, chiefly because the city debt is now close to the limit allowed by law. The police service has been inadequate, especially in the region known as South Corner. Though two hundred thousand dollars have been spent on the streets in the last five years, the main street of the city is still unpaved, and none of the other streets are macadamized. Though under the local option law the city has uniformly voted for no license, yet there is much liquor selling. The city officials have regularly been nominated at Democratic and republican conventions.
The question has arisen at the present time because of quarrels between the mayor and aldermen, because of the petition of the city government to the legislature to issue bonds for new waterworks above the authorized debt limit, because the tax rate last year was higher than ever before in the history of the city, and because of the formation of a citizens' association which has been instrumental in securing from the legislature a bill authorizing the citizens to vote on the adoption of the proposed plan.
Points which are not discussed here will be taken up in succeeding papers.
The definitions on page 70 are to be taken as part of this agreed statement.
EXERCISES
1. Criticize the following sentences for their fitness as parts of introductions to briefs:
a. It is agreed that the commission form of government has succeeded in Des Moines because it is simple and easily controlled by the people.b. Summer baseball is to be understood as playing baseball for money, for a man who is given his board and lodging by a hotel for playing is taking the equivalent of money.c. (As one of the contentions for the affirmative on the question whether a street railroad should be compelled to build a certain new line, which would not be immediately profitable.) The convenience of the public should be considered before large dividends, since the public grants the franchise.
a. It is agreed that the commission form of government has succeeded in Des Moines because it is simple and easily controlled by the people.
b. Summer baseball is to be understood as playing baseball for money, for a man who is given his board and lodging by a hotel for playing is taking the equivalent of money.
c. (As one of the contentions for the affirmative on the question whether a street railroad should be compelled to build a certain new line, which would not be immediately profitable.) The convenience of the public should be considered before large dividends, since the public grants the franchise.
2. Make an agreed statement of facts for an argument on one of the subjects in the list on pages 10-12.
NOTE. This is a good exercise for class use: let the different members of the class propose facts to be agreed on, and then put them before the rest of the class for criticism.
23. Arrangement of Material. For the arrangement of the material in a brief, it is not possible to give much general advice, since this arrangement would change with the space allotted to the argument, and especially with the audience. On this point knowledge of your readers, of their acquaintance with the subject, and of their prepossessions will count as much as knowledge of the subject when you come to the arguments of practical life.
In general, if your audience is likely to be lukewarm or indifferent, begin with a point which will stir them up. In the argument on the introduction of commission government into Wytown, for which I have constructed a brief, I assumed that the citizens were already aroused to the need of some change, and therefore began by showing that the evils of the present administration can be traced chiefly to the present system of government. If I had assumed that the people needed first to be aroused to believing a change to be necessary, I should have put at the beginning an exposure of the corruption and inefficiency of the present city government, with specific cases to establish the point.
Likewise for the close of your argument be sure that you have a strong and effective point. In the case of commission government for Wytown, by refuting the objection that too much power is given to the councilmen I provide a chance to show at the same time how completely the commission government keeps the control in the hands of the people; and the latter point is the strongest that can be made for the commission form of government.
24. The Place of the Refutation.The place of the refutation and its extent also differ greatly with the audience. Sometimes it may occupy practically the whole space. A few years agoThe Outlookpublished an editorial opposing a change in the laws of New York relating to vivisection (for a part of it, see p. 44), in which it refuted the two arguments urged for the change, and then pointed out that the burden of proof still rested on the other side. Here the refutation occupied almost the whole of the argument. Huxley, in his three "Lectures on Evolution," of which the first is printed on page 233, gave the whole of this first lecture to a refutation of the alternative theories of the origin of plants and animals; since it was necessary to dispose of accepted theories before the new theory could get a hearing, he put his refutation first.
Where there are no such special reasons, it is safe to follow the principle that you should not draw more attention than necessary to the arguments on the other side. Refutation of less important statements and contentions will naturally come at the point of the argument which deals with that part of the subject. State them fairly always, but do not magnify their importance by dealing with them at too great length.
It is not often wise to lump the refutation at the end of your argument. The last impression on your audience is the strongest: it is good strategy to keep it for your own best points. Sometimes, as in the brief worked out on page 90, it is possible to combine the refutation with positive argument which will be effective; but do not forget that negative argument makes much less impression than that which is positive and constructive.
25. The Brief Proper. We have seen on page 47 that the brief is in essence a statement of the logical framework of your argument. Its purpose is to lay out your reasoning in such a way that you can scrutinize each link and make sure that each assertion and each group of assertions is attached to a firm support. For this reason the brief for a written or spoken argument is best thrown into the form of tabulated statements marked with a series of numbers and letters which will show at a glance the exact place of each statement or assertion in the whole system of reasoning. When you can thus, as it were, strip your argument to its bones and tendons, you can go ahead with the confidence that your reasoning is logically coherent.
When you get out into the world you will work out your own way of making briefs for any arguments that fate imposes on you. The value of practice now is in being able to get at the work then without wasting time. The rules below are offered to you as the result of long experiment and study lay the best authorities. Moreover, if you are working in a class you should remember that you will get a great deal more out of your teacher if you save his time by sticking closely to uniformity in outward form.
I shall first show how a brief is constructed, by following through part of the process for the argument on the introduction of commission into Wytown; then I shall give the rules, with some explanation of their working and of their practical expediency.
We have just seen that the brief is essentially a display of the logical framework of the argument: it should consist, therefore, of the main contentions in support of the proposition, with the reasons urged in support of these contentions, and of the facts and reasons brought forward in support of these reasons, this successive support of reasons being carried down to ultimate facts, wherever possible.
When you come to the working out of your brief you start with your main issues, stated now as assertions. Then for each of them you give one or more reasons.
In the brief for introducing commission government into Wytown, let us start with the main issues for the affirmative, transforming them from questions into assertions. The first main issue would then read:
The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is due to the system of government.
The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is due to the system of government.
The next step is to assign reasons for making this assertion. Accordingly we should add a "since" or a "for" to the assertion, and then underneath arrange these reasons in order. Let us suppose that we put down three reasons:
I. The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is due to the system of government; for
A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office;B. Advantageous contracts cannot be made;C. The responsibility for expenditures is scattered.
A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office;
B. Advantageous contracts cannot be made;
C. The responsibility for expenditures is scattered.
Each of these assertions clearly needs to be supported before it will be accepted. Let us follow out the support of the first one, and set down here the reasons and facts which will make it incontestable.
A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office; for1. The organization of the national parties is permanent.2. There has been bargaining between parties to reward political services with city offices.
A. Partisan politics determine nominations to office; for
1. The organization of the national parties is permanent.2. There has been bargaining between parties to reward political services with city offices.
1. The organization of the national parties is permanent.
2. There has been bargaining between parties to reward political services with city offices.
Of these points the first is an obvious fact; in the argument it will need only slight development and specification to make its bearing on the case effective. The second, on the other hand, must be supported by evidence; and in the brief, accordingly, we should refer to the facts as stated in newspapers of specified dates from which full quotation would be made in the argument. Here then, in both cases, though in different ways, we get down to the bed rock of fact on which the reasoning is built up. At the same time, each joint in the framework of the reasoning has been laid bare, so that no weak place can escape detection. These are always the two main objects of making a brief—to get down to the facts on which the reasoning is built up, and to display every essential step in the reasoning.
26. Rules for Briefing.The rules given below are divided into two groups: those in the first group deal chiefly with the form of the brief; those in the second go more to the substance; but the distinction between the two groups is far from being absolute.
I
I
1.A brief may be divided into three parts: the Introduction, the Proof, the Conclusion. Of these the Introduction should contain noncontentious matter, and the Conclusion should be a restatement of the proposition, with a bare summary of the main issues in affirmative (or negative) form.
The introduction has already been dealt with at length (see pp. 48-81). The conclusion brings the main points of the argument together, and gives an effect of workmanlike completeness to the brief. It should never introduce new points.
2.In the Introduction keep each step of the analysis by itself, and indicate the several parts by such headings as "The following terms need definition," "The following facts are agreed on," "The following points will be left out of consideration in this argument" "The chief contentions on thetwo sides are as follows," "The main issues on which the argument will be made are as follows."
It is not to be expected that all these steps, with the appropriate headings, will be necessary in every brief. The only use of a brief is to aid you to construct a specific argument, and you must consider each case by itself.
3.Follow a uniform system of numbering throughout, so that each number or letter used will show whether the statement is one of the main supports of your case, or in what degree it is subordinated.
In other words, the numbering should show at a glance whether a given assertion is a main reason, a reason for a reason, or in still more subordinate degree of support. The system of numbering in the brief on page 90 is convenient. Whatever system is adopted, it should be followed by the whole class.
4.The refutation should have a distinct set of symbols.
These symbols may well be uniform with the others, but with the prime mark to distinguish them (see p. 93).
5.In briefing the refutation always state first the assertion that is to be refuted, with such connectives as, "Although it is urged ..., yet the contention is unsound, for ...," "Although the case is cited, ... yet the case is irrelevant, for..."
These connectives will vary with the nature of the assertion to be refuted; the important thing is to state the assertion so clearly that your critic can judge the relevancy and force of your refutation. (For examples, see pp. 91-93.)
II
II
6. A brief in all its parts should be phrased in complete sentences; mere topics are of no value.
In the brief on page 90, if the headings under I were "A.Party politics,B. Waste in contracts,C. No responsibility for expenditures," neither the maker of the brief nor the critic of it could know with any certainty the course of the reasoning. It is undoubtedly true that many lawyers and other men of affairs use only topic heads when they are planning an argument; but it is to be remembered that they are men who have been training their powers of thought in hard earnest, and their ability to work out and stick to a train of reasoning with so little written aid has not much bearing on what is the best practice for young men who are in the process of gaining this ability. To make a full outline of the reasoning in a few arguments is the best way to get the sense for logical and coherent structure.
7. Each heading should contain a single assertion only.
The reason for this rule is obvious: if under each assertion you are going to set the reasons for that assertion, you will get into trouble if your assertion is double-headed, since what is a reason for one part of it may not be a reason for another. If in the brief on page 90 heading IBshould read, "Advantageous contracts cannot be made, and the responsibility for expenditures is scattered," subheading IC2, "Accounts are submitted to separate committees of the two boards in which no members have special responsibility," would have nothing to do with the making of contracts, and subheading IB1, "Contracts must be passed on by both aldermen and common councilmen and the mayor," would have nothing to do with expenditures.
8. In the body of the brief the assertions should be arranged as follows: Each main heading should embody one of the main issues as stated in the Introduction; and each of the subordinate assertions should stand as a reason for the assertion to which it is subordinate. The connective between an assertion and one subordinate to it will therefore befor, since,orbecause,or the like, nothenceortherefore,or the like.
A brief thus arranged lays out the reasoning in a complete and easily scrutinized form. Thus in the brief on page 90 for the assertion in the first main issue, "The admitted inefficiency, of the city government at present is due to the system of government," three chief reasons are given:A. "Partisan politics determine nominations to office,"B. "Advantageous contracts cannot be made," andC. "The responsibility for expenditures is scattered." Then for each of these secondary assertions reasons in support are adduced; thus forB. "Advantageous contracts cannot be made," the reasons are I. "Contracts must be passed on separately by aldermen, common councilmen, and the mayor," and 2. "Bargains are made between the aldermen representing different wards." In this case final references are given for each of these subordinate assertions, so that we get down to the ultimate foundation of verifiable fact on which the argument is to be built up.
The advantage of this form is that if you have set down several assertions as reasons for another, and you are doubtful whether they all belong there, you can test them separately by putting them one by one after the main assertion they are intended to support with a "for" or a "since" between.
You put the assertion first and the reason for it afterwards, because when there is more than one reason in support, if you have the reason first you must then repeat the assertion with each reason, or run the risk of confusion. If under I in the brief on page go, for example, you began with the reason, "In the present system partisan politics determine nominations to office," and then added the result, "Therefore the city government is inefficient," you would have to repeat the result withBandC; and when you came to the third degree of support, the repetition would be intolerably clumsy and confusing.
9.Headings and subheadings should not have more than one numbering.
The reason for this rule is also obvious: each heading or subheading marks a step in the argument, and what belongs on one step cannot be on another at the same time. In the brief on page 90 the assertion that "Partisan politics determine nominations to office" is stated as a chief reason for the assertion in the first main issue, that "The admitted inefficiency of the city government at present is due to the system of government." It would confuse a reader to mark itAI, as if it wore a support also in the second degree.
10.The brief should give references to the evidence or authorities relied on to support assertions.
General references to articles and books which will be constantly referred to should be put at the beginning of the brief. References to specific statements of fact or quotations of opinion should be added as they occur in the brief (see the brief on p. 90).
EXERCISES
1. Criticize the following portion of a brief:
This college should have a longer Christmas vacation, forI. College life tends to break up family life;A. Father and son;B. Younger brothers and sisters;C. Intimate friends.
This college should have a longer Christmas vacation, for
I. College life tends to break up family life;
A. Father and son;B. Younger brothers and sisters;C. Intimate friends.
A. Father and son;
B. Younger brothers and sisters;
C. Intimate friends.
2. Criticize the following detached portions of a brief on the proposition,
This city should double its appropriation for the public library, and amend them if necessary:a. II. The funds for the purchase of books are insufficient and the staff is inadequate.b. B. The reading room is crowded to suffocation, therefore1. Many people avoid the library.c. III. Those who oppose the increased appropriation declare thatA. The library is a luxury for the rich; hence1. The rich should support it; but2. This is not true, fora. Most of the borrowers of books are people of moderate means; thereforeb. The city should support the library.d. IV.A. The city is able to double the appropriation; for1. It has spent largely for parks,a. Which are also for the pleasure and improvement of the citizens;b. Hence it can pay for additions to the library.e. VI. It is not trueA. That the readers want only recent fiction and that they should buy these books for themselves; for1. They mostly are not able to buy books; hence2. They should be encouraged to read other books.3. Give an example of an argument and an audience where it would be necessary to put the refutation first; of one in which it would be necessary to stir up the interest of readers at the start.4. Suggest methods for gaining the interest of the readers in the last case.
This city should double its appropriation for the public library, and amend them if necessary:
a. II. The funds for the purchase of books are insufficient and the staff is inadequate.b. B. The reading room is crowded to suffocation, therefore1. Many people avoid the library.c. III. Those who oppose the increased appropriation declare thatA. The library is a luxury for the rich; hence1. The rich should support it; but2. This is not true, fora. Most of the borrowers of books are people of moderate means; thereforeb. The city should support the library.d. IV.A. The city is able to double the appropriation; for1. It has spent largely for parks,a. Which are also for the pleasure and improvement of the citizens;b. Hence it can pay for additions to the library.e. VI. It is not trueA. That the readers want only recent fiction and that they should buy these books for themselves; for1. They mostly are not able to buy books; hence2. They should be encouraged to read other books.3. Give an example of an argument and an audience where it would be necessary to put the refutation first; of one in which it would be necessary to stir up the interest of readers at the start.4. Suggest methods for gaining the interest of the readers in the last case.
a. II. The funds for the purchase of books are insufficient and the staff is inadequate.
b. B. The reading room is crowded to suffocation, therefore
1. Many people avoid the library.
c. III. Those who oppose the increased appropriation declare thatA. The library is a luxury for the rich; hence
1. The rich should support it; but2. This is not true, fora. Most of the borrowers of books are people of moderate means; thereforeb. The city should support the library.
1. The rich should support it; but
2. This is not true, for
a. Most of the borrowers of books are people of moderate means; thereforeb. The city should support the library.
a. Most of the borrowers of books are people of moderate means; therefore
b. The city should support the library.
d. IV.A. The city is able to double the appropriation; for
1. It has spent largely for parks,a. Which are also for the pleasure and improvement of the citizens;b. Hence it can pay for additions to the library.
1. It has spent largely for parks,
a. Which are also for the pleasure and improvement of the citizens;b. Hence it can pay for additions to the library.
a. Which are also for the pleasure and improvement of the citizens;
b. Hence it can pay for additions to the library.
e. VI. It is not true
A. That the readers want only recent fiction and that they should buy these books for themselves; for1. They mostly are not able to buy books; hence2. They should be encouraged to read other books.3. Give an example of an argument and an audience where it would be necessary to put the refutation first; of one in which it would be necessary to stir up the interest of readers at the start.4. Suggest methods for gaining the interest of the readers in the last case.
A. That the readers want only recent fiction and that they should buy these books for themselves; for
1. They mostly are not able to buy books; hence2. They should be encouraged to read other books.3. Give an example of an argument and an audience where it would be necessary to put the refutation first; of one in which it would be necessary to stir up the interest of readers at the start.4. Suggest methods for gaining the interest of the readers in the last case.
1. They mostly are not able to buy books; hence
2. They should be encouraged to read other books.
3. Give an example of an argument and an audience where it would be necessary to put the refutation first; of one in which it would be necessary to stir up the interest of readers at the start.
4. Suggest methods for gaining the interest of the readers in the last case.