Examining argumentative style

In this theoretical expose, it is argued that the notion of argumentative style is more encompassing and at the same time more specific than the more familiar notion of linguistic style. According to van Eemeren, argumentative styles always have three dimensions: the selection of standpoints, starting-points, arguments or other argumentative moves, the adjustment of argumentative moves to the frame of reference and preferences of the listeners or readers, and the choice of verbal or non-verbal means for advancing argumentative moves. In argumentative discourse, the three dimensions of argumentative style manifest themselves in the argumentative moves made in trying to resolve a difference of opinion, the dialectical routes chosen in making these argumentative moves and the strategic considerations brought to bear in this endeavour. Van Eemeren explains what this means in practice by discussing the distinctive features of the three dimensions of two general categories of argumentative styles that can be regularly encountered, in one variant or other, in argumentative discourse: detached argumentative styles and engaged argumentative styles.