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Theory and Practice of Argumentation

Code: 100294 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Philosophy FB 1
Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics FB 1

Contact

Name:
Olga Fernandez Prat
Email:
olga.fernandez@uab.cat

Teachers

(External) Alejandro Mesa Villajos

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

This subject has no specific prerequisites.


Objectives and Contextualisation

Theory and Practice of Argumentation is a subject of 6 ECTS considered basic and compulsory of the first-year degree of Philosophy, which will be carried out during the first semester of the course.

It is about forming the ability to recognize, analyze, and produce arguments.

This subject aims to introduce the students to the elementary rudiments of Critical Thinking. With a methodology based on group dynamics, oral presentations, and teamwork, we will go deep into the analysis of public language, its implicit reasoning, and its structure. Thus, the theoretical categories of the syllabus will be applied to philosophical texts, but also to some of the various forms of discourse that take place socially: press articles, advertising messages, political propaganda, or the twists and topics that abound in natural language

In short, the ultimate goal of the subject is to familiarize students with philosophical argumentation, rhetoric techniques, and persuasive communication.


Competences

    Philosophy
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic valurs.
  • Act within one's own area of knowledge, evaluating sex/gender-based inequalities.
  • Recognising and interpreting topics and problems of philosophy in its various disciplines.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Thinking in a critical and independent manner on the basis of the specific topics, debates and problems of philosophy, both historically and conceptually.
    Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and democratic values.
  • Critically read and interpret texts.
  • Display teamwork skills.
  • Interpret the thematic and symbolic content of narrative, poetic and theatrical texts in accordance with the main analytical methodologies and according to their textual and pragmatic strategies.
  • Produce arguments applicable to the specific areas of literature and linguistics.
  • Produce written work and oral presentations that are effective and framed in the appropriate register.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Adopt a personal stance on a problem or controversy of importance in philosophy, or within a research project on philosophy.
  2. Analyse and re-write a non-normative text.
  3. Applying philosophical rigour in a written text following the international quality standards.
  4. Argue a case regarding several philosophical topics and problems arising from different works and evaluate the results.
  5. Arguing about several issues and philosophical problems for the purpose of different works and the assessment of the results.
  6. Assess the impact of the difficulties, prejudices and discriminations that actions or projects may involve, in the short or long term, in relation to certain persons or groups.
  7. Autonomously searching, selecting and processing information both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, specialized magazines) and from across the network.
  8. Clearly, correctly and precisely communicate the knowledge of philosophy acquired, orally and in writing.
  9. Correctly drawing up a previously analysed non-regulatory text.
  10. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures the govern professional practice.
  11. Demonstrating a personal stance over a problem or controversy of philosophical nature, or a work of philosophical research.
  12. Distinguishing and analysing representative texts of the main genres of the philosophical literature.
  13. Distinguishing the topics of philosophical relevance in current debates.
  14. Effectively communicating and applying the argumentative and textual processes to formal and scientific texts.
  15. Establish relationships between science, philosophy, art, religion, politics, etc.
  16. Establishing relationships between science, philosophy, art, religion, politics, etc.
  17. Explain the code of practice, whether explicit or implicit, in one's own area of knowledge.
  18. Explaining the specific notions of the History of Philosophy.
  19. Express ideas effectively in formal academic texts by adopting argumentative and textual procedures.
  20. Expressing both orally and in written form, the issues and basic problems of the philosophical tradition.
  21. Identify the principal sex-/gender-based inequalities and discriminations present in society.
  22. Indicating and summarising the common content of several manifestations of various fields of culture.
  23. Organise time and resources for carrying out an assignment: prioritising objectives, and setting calendars and plans for action.
  24. Organizing their own time and work resources: designing plans with priorities of objectives, calendars and action commitments.
  25. Point out and summarise the philosophical content common to various manifestations of different cultural areas.
  26. Reading basic philosophical text thoroughly.
  27. Recognise and define the common thinking present in a multidisciplinary context.
  28. Recognise and put into practice the following teamwork skills: loyalty, willingness to collaborate, cooperation in problem solving.
  29. Recognising, with a critical eye, philosophical referents of the past and present and assessing its importance.
  30. Relating several ideas of the current philosophical debates.
  31. Respect the diversity of ideas, people and situations.
  32. Rewriting the stance of a typical philosophical author in a clear and precise manner.
  33. Seek out, choose and manage information independently, both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, or specialist journals) and from internet searches.
  34. Submit assignments in formats tailored to requirements and personal styles, whether carried out individually or in a small group.
  35. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  36. Summarise the central arguments of the philosophical texts studied.
  37. Summarizing the main arguments of the analysed philosophical texts.
  38. Use the appropriate terminology when writing an academic text.
  39. Using suitable terminology when drawing up an academic text.
  40. Write a text that displays philosophical rigour and follows international quality standards.
  41. Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.

Content

TOPIC 1

1. Natural Language and Logic

2. Informative and Argumentative Texts

3. Definition and parts of an argument

4. Assertions, statements, and propositions

5. Validity and truth

6. Repairing arguments

7. Types of arguments: deductive and non-deductive

8. Non-deductive arguments

9. Valid deductive arguments: modus ponens, modus tollens, hypothetical syllogism, disjunctive syllogism, dilemma, reductio ad absurdum.

10. Invalid deductive arguments (formal fallacy): affirming the consequent, denying the antecedent, others.

 

TOPIC 2

1. Validity of an argument.

2. Argumentative fallacies.

3. Classification of fallacies: formal and informal

4. Types of formal fallacies

5. Types of informal fallacies

 

TOPIC 3

1. Oratory, eristics, dialectics, and rhetoric

2. Rhetoric in Plato

3. Rhetoric in Aristotle

4. Latin rhetoric

5. Argumentative expressions

6. The construction of discourse: writing workshop.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Tutorial (oral presentations) 15 0.6 5, 13, 16, 18, 14, 39, 26, 29, 32, 37
Tutorial (writing activities) 30 1.2 13, 29, 30
Type: Supervised      
Reading 12 0.48 16, 18, 39, 24, 32, 37
Review 12 0.48 5, 7, 13, 12, 16, 18, 14, 39, 26, 24, 35, 29, 32, 9, 30, 37
Type: Autonomous      
Group activities 50 2 7, 13, 12, 16, 26, 24, 29, 30
Theory classes 26 1.04 5, 14, 39, 26, 32

1. Theoretical classes: these are master classes where the teacher will present the contents to be treated in each session.
2. Practical exercises and group dynamics: one part of each class will be devoted to the practice, exercises, and group dynamics of application of the theoretical contents.
3. Oral presentations: the student must be able to present a subject and apply the knowledge of rhetoric and argumentation.
4. Critical thematic debate: the justification for their arguments, as well as respect for the diversity of opinions, will be valued.
 
* All the details, materials, and dates of the various activities will be proposed in the Campus Virtual throughout the course.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Argumentative Text 15% 1 0.04 10, 3, 40, 5, 22, 7, 8, 1, 11, 13, 12, 16, 17, 18, 20, 14, 39, 21, 26, 24, 35, 29, 28, 32, 41, 9, 30, 31, 37, 6
Exam 40% 1.5 0.06 10, 3, 40, 5, 4, 22, 25, 7, 8, 1, 11, 13, 12, 16, 17, 18, 14, 39, 26, 24, 23, 35, 29, 27, 28, 32, 41, 9, 30, 31, 37
Oral Debate 15% 1.5 0.06 3, 40, 5, 4, 22, 33, 7, 13, 12, 16, 15, 17, 18, 14, 19, 39, 38, 26, 24, 23, 35, 34, 29, 27, 28, 32, 41, 9, 2, 30, 37, 36, 6
Oral presentation 30% 1 0.04 5, 7, 13, 12, 16, 18, 14, 26, 24, 35, 29, 30

Assessment activities will be as follows:

  • Theoretical exam on topics 1 and 2 (short-answer format) – 40%

  • Oral presentation on a topic chosen by the student and previously agreed upon with the lecturer. It may be done individually or in pairs – 30%

  • In-class oral debate (in groups) – 15%

  • Written text production (individual) – 15%

Revisions: Students have the right to request a review of all assessed activities.

Not Assessable: Students will receive a “Not Assessable” mark if they have submitted less than 30% of the assessed activities.

This course does not offer the Single Assessment option.

The Department of Philosophy has agreed that first-semester courses will include two assessment concentration periods and one week in which students can specifically prepare for their evaluations, according to the modality specified by each lecturer at the beginning of the course. The dates for the review and assessment periods are:

  • October 27–31: review or tutorial week

  • November 3–7: assessment week

  • January 8, 9, 12, 13, 14: assessment week

NOTES

  • Erasmus students who request to take an exam in advance must present a written document from their home university justifying the request.

  • If a student commits any irregularity that could significantly alter the grade of an assessment activity, that activity will be graded with a 0, regardless of any disciplinary proceedings that may follow. If multiple irregularities occur in different assessment activities for the same course, the final grade for the course will be 0.

  • The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is not permitted at any stage of this course. Any work that includes AI-generated content will be considered a breach of academic integrity and will result in a grade of 0 for that activity with no possibility of resubmission, or more serious sanctions in severe cases.


Bibliography

Aristòtil. Retòrica. Poètica. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1985.

Ciceró. L'orador. Vols. 43, 54, y 65. Barcelona: Fundació Bernat Metge, 1929-1933.

Fosl, Peter S. The Critical Thinking Toolkit. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2017.

Gorgias. “Encomio de Helena.” En Los sofistas: testimonios y fragmentos, traducido por José Solana Dueso, 192-199. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2013.

Kelley, David. The Art of Reasoning: An Introduction to Logic. Editado por Debby Hutchins. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2021.

Laborda, X. De retòrica: la comunicació persuasiva. Barcelona: Editorial UOC, 2012.

Lavin, Andrew. Thinking Well. A Logic and Critical Thinking Textbook. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, 2020.

Plató. Gòrgias. Traducido por Manuel Balasch. En Diàlegs, vol. VIII. Barcelona: Fundació Bernat Metge, 2000.

Rubio, Joana, y Francesc Puigpelat. Com parlar bé en públic. Barcelona: Editorial Mina, 2010.

Weston, Anthony. Las claves de la argumentación. 10ª ed. Barcelona: Editorial Ariel, 2011.


Software

No.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 2 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 11 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 12 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 2 Catalan first semester morning-mixed